Damaged Goods
by dib07
Summary: Angst Novel: Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply. Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.
1. The Unknown

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE.**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)?**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**

**Chapter 1: The Unknown**

"Grampa, I need to talk to you. It's ... uh... important."

Yugi was holding the millennium puzzle in his hands as he stood beside the sofa where his old grandfather sat. He was watching the television. His grandfather liked watching the game shows they put on after eight o'clock every weekday night, and after the shop was closed and cleaned for the next day, and after dinner was cleared away, Solomon would sit down and watch TV until he inevitably fell asleep on the sofa. These nights Yugi usually busied himself by playing card games with Yami, or reading a good book or two. But ever since Yami's discussion, a new revelation had opened in his mind and he was lost and confused by indecision, excitement and worry.

"Hmm?" Solomon turned to look round. It was dim in the lounge. Most of the light came from the flashing images on screen. "What is it, Yugi?"

"Well, I am not sure, but it's kinda... complicated."

It was good to see his grampa take him seriously for once. Even in the darkness of the room he obviously saw the worry and graveness etched in his grandson's shadowy face. Solomon picked up the remote that lay on the arm of the sofa and clicked the TV off. Then he reached over to the lamp on the little table by the chair and the room was filled with overly bright light.

"What is this about?" Solomon asked patiently. "Are you having trouble at school?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. It's Yami."

"Yami?"

"Yes. The spirit of the pharaoh in my millennium puzzle."

"What about him?" Solomon asked, not quite sure how to play along. He had heard about this Yami before, only he wasn't really sure what he was hearing. Yugi discussed this pharaoh from time to time when he was in the right mood, and it seemed that this imaginary friend remained with Yugi with every school year that passed, even when Yugi had real friends like Joey and Triston. However, sometimes, when he was folding away laundry or making the bed, he would hear two people talking in Yugi's room. Of course, Yugi always closed the door, but Solomon would perch just outside it, listening in. On occasion his curiosity would grow too much, and he could restrain himself no longer. He would open the door with a plate of cookies or folded clothes, convinced he would see Joey on the floor playing with cards – kids climbed through bedroom windows all the time to avoid being noticed. But there was no one there. Yugi was playing by himself. There was no one else in the room. Solomon would pretend to clean the place up a bit by rearranging Yugi's jumper on the rack to discreetly look behind the door, or he would peer under the bed. But there was never anyone to find. The only thing that gave Solomon a clue was the cards. There would be Yugi's set on his side, and a another set of cards on the other side of the playing mat: almost as though someone had been there. Now, Solomon didn't like to believe in ghosts. They haunted buildings, and they caused more harm than good whether they existed or not. But Yugi showed strange signs of being 'haunted' ever since he solved that rare Egyptian puzzle.

"Well, it's just that, instead of letting him go to be free in the afterlife, we came to an agreement instead. It's partly my fault. I don't want to lose him." At this, Yugi wrapped his little fingers firmly around the puzzle as if to caress it. The gold of the upside down pyramid was easily warmed by his touch. "If I lost him, I'd... I'd..." He shook his head and his purple eyes, once clouded with melancholy, looked up into his grampa's eyes and they turned clear and cold with an unearthly passion. "Yami's found a way to materialize."

"Pardon?" Now this was... surprising. Yugi looked perfectly sane. He spoke and acted as he normally did. And now this 'being' – this 'yami' had somehow become a greater importance in Yugi's little world. Solomon had rather hoped he would grow out of this phase and find a girl or something like normal boys. It looked like that reality was still a far off fantasy.

"I know it sounds strange, but Yami has very potent powers. He's been planning this for a while now, and he thinks he's gathered enough energy – dark – energy – to materialize himself. He explained it all to me once, and I have to confess that it all went over my head a little. But he can only do it once, and if it works, it's kind of unknown what will happen. But he's been over and over the facts and he thinks it can't go wrong."

"What's this got to do with me?"

"I want to know if you'll love him and accommodate him here as you have provided for me. Treat him as another grandson. He can even sleep in my room."

"Yugi..."

"He won't need to go to school. I won't know how old he'll be when he gets his own body, so you'll have to look after him while I'm out."

"Yugi..."

"And we'll have to buy more food. Also I won't know what kind of taste he'll have. He might be vegetarian for all I know. And I think it's perfect! He won't have to leave me! He'll stay in his own form!"

"Yugi!" Solomon jumped out from his chair and grabbed Yugi's little shoulders gently, but firmly. "I've put up with this for a long time, Yugi, but it's got to stop. You've gone too far!"

"Grampa?"

"Don't you understand? This 'yami' doesn't exist! It's all part of your imagination! Your mother always said you were very bright and imaginative. You were always dreaming of things. Well it's got to stop! How will you ever start a family if you keep talking about this imaginary friend you have?"

"He's real!" Yugi blurted, gripping the puzzle tighter. "Disbelieve me all you want, but very soon he'll be up and walking around like you or me! I just asked for your help! And it seems that I won't have it!" He wrenched himself out of Solomon's steely grip and stalked out the room.

"Yugi!" Solomon cried after him. But was there any use in pursuing him? After all, this 'insanity' over an invisible pharaoh wasn't exactly going to go away overnight. Defeated and all but a little rueful (his grandson needed help – perhaps a good therapist he could talk to, however they charged a lot of money these days), Solomon sat back down and switched on the television.

'I think I am ready, little one.' Spoke the voice of the Pharaoh. Yugi screamed to a halt on the bedroom floor. He had spent much of the evening sweeping and clearing it all in preparation for tonight. The bed was all made. The floor was spruce and tidy. Every single toy and board game had been packed away or sent up to the attic. Though Yugi had next to no idea what to expect, he had to be ready.

"What shall I do?" Yugi asked. He looked down at the puzzle. It had begun to glow faintly through the all-too-tight grip of his fingers.

'I suggest you stand back when I begin. Do not be afraid, and have no regrets. For this choice is mine alone.'

Yugi felt himself frowning. "What do you mean, Yami? Are you saying this could be dangerous?"

'Not for you.'

There was a moment of tranquil silence, and though nothing had yet happened, Yugi felt very demoralized and discouraged. Through their spiritual connection he could feel Yami's own fervour, but it was deeply and profoundly mixed with nervousness and anxiety. It seemed to pulse outward like the unwonted rhythm of a strange song.

"Don't do this if it is risky, Yami."

'Ah, Aibou. I have waited a long time for this one chance.' Though Yugi could not see him, he could feel him, and his mottling ebb and flow of emotions. Yugi wanted to cry with sadness, and whimper with joy all at once, such was the vast flummox of Yami's tide of emotion. 'What I would give to hold you in my own arms. To do the things you do. To eat. To play. To feel the breeze on my cheek. I can do these things with your body, Yugi, but it is truly my own I want, my own to look after. And my own to travel and have adventures with. And though you do not want me to return to the afterlife, I am growing terribly weary and sick of the tomb enclosed all around me. the darkness is full of power and it is all I have known for three thousand years, but I am also frightened of it. I want to be free, either in death, or in life. The time is now, Aibou. Please allow me to try.'

Doubt clouded Yugi's insight, and as much as he tried to block it off before it had time to grow, Yami still sensed it. "I'm sorry, Yami. I fear for you."

'Don't. Each of us must take our chance when the challenge calls. My dark powers shall help and guide me. Shall I begin, Aibou?'

It took a monumental effort for Yugi to acquiesce. He was opening a door of new and potentially deadly possibilities. Did Yami really know what he was doing? Of course he didn't. He had never tried this before. Anything could happen. And Yugi was now more afraid than ever. At first he had been very excited. Yami would be as real as anybody else! He would be able to touch and to smell him! Hold his hand and go shopping with him! It was his ultimate dream come true! But now... with all these complications, Yugi wasn't sure anymore what to think. All he could do, was hope.

Hope for the best.

'Well, here goes.'

There was a pull of pressure, and a final jab of unsettled emotions from the pharaoh as the millennium puzzle glowed into white-hot brilliance. Yugi had to release his grip on it to save himself from getting scorched hands. Then the puzzle began to rock from side to side like a demented pendulum. As it thrashed, it left streaks of white light. Even the light bulbs in Yugi's room began to ebb in and out. One moment the room was in darkness, the next it was smothered by a heavy cadence of ethereal light. Downstairs, Yugi could hear his grandfather screaming as the TV screen blew. Then the alarm clock on the windowsill began to rattle up and down, and a few books fell off their shelves in a flutter of pages and bookmarks. A form of light began to draw from the puzzle and the surrounding environment – even from Yugi himself. The body of light started off small – looking a lot like a ball of lightning. Then it began to take shape, and it grew taller before Yugi's every eyes. He became dazzled by the light as it throbbed and pulsed outward like some kind of aura. But then the light died – most spontaneously – and became blacker than midnight. All the darkness poured back into the puzzle that grew cold and dull again. Yugi closed his eyes at that point. The earth-shattering fiasco and throbbing of lights gave him momentary blindness. But when all went suddenly quiet and still, he timidly opened his eyes again. The lights were all on as normal, and despite his grandfather's cursing downstairs, everything seemed to be normal. Even the millennium puzzle had grown as cool as the metal it was made from. But as his vision cleared a little more, he focused his vision on his spiritual counterpart. Only, he was a spirit no longer. What sat on the carpet of his bedroom floor wasn't a ghost or some kind of strange apparition but a human being. A living, breathing human being! And it was Yami! He sat on the carpet completely stark naked. But he was whole, and there was nothing deformed or abhorrent. He looked like he would have done three thousand years ago in a thirty year old body. Without really thinking, Yugi ran over and was about to give the newly reborn pharaoh a longing embrace, but he stopped short at the last moment. Yami, though he was whole and solid, with lank red and magnetic hair complete with gold bangs and with those lustrous amethyst eyes, didn't look all that delighted. He wasn't even looking at his small protégé. His beautiful large eyes were fixed on his pale white hand that rested on the carpet. And he was breathing a little too harshly.

Yugi's wave of emphatic exhilaration came crashing down. Something was wrong.

His mind offered a practical alternative, and he went over to his bed. He tugged off the top bed sheet and wrapped it around Yami's pale body. At once the pharaoh's new body began to quiver with uncontrollable bouts of fierce shivering. Yugi knelt before the pharaoh, but again Yami did not look up at him, and showed no signs of even acknowledging him.

"Yami? Yami you... you did it! Look at me, Yami! What's wrong? Please tell me or I'll go mad with grief. Oh please tell me!" He was growing more desperate. He tenderly leaned forwards and gripped the shivering pharaoh in a gentle embrace. This wasn't how he pictured their first real contact. He expected tears of joy, laughter shared between them, and absolute comfort. He did not imagine this. Yami's purest amethyst eyes were moist with unshed tears that didn't blink, and his mouth tipped open as he seemed to struggle to breathe. It was almost as if his chest couldn't expand enough to draw in necessary oxygen. And his mind seemed lost, staggered perhaps – for he did not seem to be aware of anything – not even his own desperate respiration or the arms that held him.

"Yugi, what the...?"

So consumed was he with Yami's pain that Yugi did not hear his grandfather march up the stairs to see him until it was too late. When Solomon parted his lips to sound his irritation, for not only had the TV blown up, for they seemed to have suffered a small earthquake, but now Yugi had also been not just talking to himself like before – but shouting! He had had just about enough of this. And that was when he saw some other creature in the room with his grandson. Eerily enough this stranger looked remarkably like his grandson. Same hair with added gold streaks to it, and a familiar face too. Solomon shook his head and rubbed furiously at his eyes. Only, when he opened them again the stranger was still there, huddled in a blanket and being coddled by Yugi.

"Grampa!" Yugi's voice was urgent and nearly hysterical. "He needs help! I don't know what's wrong with him!"

Great holy cards! Solomon stood there stupidly; and suddenly, everything Yugi had said in the past about some mysterious imaginary friend was now finally falling into place. Had he... had he been telling the truth this entire time? What did it matter right now? There was a sick man on the floor, and he needed help.

Solomon knelt down beside them and barely felt the pain in his knee joints this time like he usually did when he sat down too quickly. "How did this happen, Yugi? Who is this man?"

"His name is Yami for the hundredth time!" His grandson replied with venom. "And he just... just appeared like this!" By now Yami – clearly exhausted – and having lost all strength, could no longer sit up. He slumped against Yugi until finally his head lay on his lap and the rest of him went limp and inert on the carpet.

Solomon came forward and put a hand on Yami's forehead. Then he brought his hand lower down to feel the temperature of his chest and stomach inside the blanket. It was no secret that he was completely naked under there. "This is most unorthodox." Solomon was muttering. He was quite shaken himself.

"Will you just tell me what's wrong? Yami isn't answering me! And I can't... I can't feel him!"

"Feel him? What on earth do you mean?"

Yugi's cheeks flushed a little. He hadn't meant it to sound like that at all. What he really meant was that he could not feel Yami's spiritual connection. Where once he could feel his closely knitted feelings and very presence, there was now a void in his place. Yami had always been at the back of his mind, and now there was only emptiness. As he watched his grampa feel for anything wrong on Yami's behalf, Yugi forced himself to calm down. Ever since Yami had presumably collapsed, he had fallen into absolute panic. While he slowed his breathing he began to stroke Yami's chilled face as Solomon went to inspect his hands and feet. Once some of the panic cleared, Yugi realized why he could not feel the pharaoh's presence. It was so damn simple! Of course he wouldn't be able to feel him! Yami's spirit was no longer beside his, and his own spirit was no longer trapped in the puzzle! Yami's new body had the spirit now! The puzzle was but an empty vessel now – a block of well crafted metal covered in ancient hieroglyphs!

"Okay, I can see the problem."

Yugi leaned forward in his dismay. "What? What is it?"

"Your friend is very hypothermic. He's exhausted, and he's in shock. We need to warm him up, and quickly. We might need to call for an ambulance." His words were low and grave. Yugi's heart twisted in agony and despair. How and why was Yami like this? And an ambulance wouldn't work – would it? Yami had no identification – no licence, no record and no birth certificate! Once they did a blood test they would only see him as an immigrant from Egypt!

"No ambulance yet, grampa!" Yugi implored. "He's not on their database!"

He rolled his eyes in evident disbelief. "Yes, well, we need to bring his temperature up. I want you to massage his body and rub his hands and feet." He rose from the floor and heard his knees pop.

"Where are you going?" He bawled.

"Easy there, Yugi. I'm just going to bring the kettle to a boil and pour some hot water in a bowl. Then he can breathe in the warm fumes from it. It works, trust me. Now do as I asked. I'll be back with lots of warm blankets too."

"What about a hot water bottle?"

"No, too risky. A hot water bottle will draw all the heat to his skin. It's his organs that need the urgent warmth." He left the room and ran downstairs – which was quite a feat for an old man. Yugi was left in charge, and he would do his utmost to help his friend.

Since he was close enough to the bed, he reached up, snaked his hand through the iron rails and snatched down a cushion. Quickly he traded his warm lap for the cushion so that Yami could rest his head on that instead. Now that he had both hands free, Yugi quickly and thoroughly began to pat and massage all along Yami's thin body.

"Come on, Pharaoh. Talk to me! Say something! Are you in any pain?"

Yami gave no indication that he had heard him. His eyes were now closed, his breathing still slow and terribly awkward. His thin body continued to tremble with violent shivers. Yugi forced himself to hold back the tears, but before he knew it a lump of grief had formed in his throat and his eyes were waterlogged. Tears tumbled down his ashen cheeks. This was not what he had dreamed at all.

And he was very scared.

* * *

**Dib07:** If you wanna see more, review, and I will post the next chapter up ASAP.


	2. Misgivings

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Notes:**

**A/N:** I am very chuffed and surprised at the reviews I have got! And they were very thoughtful too! Having never submitted anything into this fandom before, I am staggered by the support already! :)

In response to the encouragement, I will update next week (hopefully on Tuesday). So matter where you are or what you are doing, remember: Tuesday update day! :) It is a weird day to update on, but I am too busy with work to update near/on the weekend, sorry!

As a last note, one of the mistakes I made was that I mentioned Yugi was going to school last chapter. He's actually going to college. XD I think that's everything. Enjoy!

**Anon:** Hello and many thanks for reviewing! Yugi is twenty years old. As for the question you asked about is this a Yami/Yugi fic, actually you are in the clear. As of now I have no solid plans for a romance. Things may be soft between any of the characters, and Yugi OR Yami may have thoughts for the other in a wishful thinking kind of way, but there is still nothing concrete. This story is more or less open to interpretation so I hope this helps!

**Erengitus: **Nice name ya got there. Heh, I am so pleased with your compliments, it means a heck of a lot to hear such good words, considering this story has only just begun. I was thrilled all day! XDXD It's lovely getting such a buzz after deciding one day to drop this story into the fandom randomly. As for your other concerns, yeah, I hadn't noticed the walls of text at all. I am so used to novel writing that I saw it as normal, so I am going to try my best to make sure they don't crop up. And yes, Solomon recognising Atem – yeah that is my chief mistake – however, I wanted to play on real life vs magic, and how the entire saga was based on nothing more than a dream for Solomon. I may be wrong doing this, I may be crazy, but I wanted Solomon to know and love Atem in a different way. Forgive me for taking this path, my plot and stories weave in and out of the original as close as tghey can, but interpreted just a little bit differently.

**Visitor:** Hello and thanks for your kindly review and your critique – after all, writers need critique. Does it say how old Yami is in the series? I must apologize if you don't think he is thirty odd years of age, but my plot and stories aren't kept strictly to the Yugioh series, so please forgive me. As I have explained to _Erengitus_, I wanted to do something different, but hopefully the first chapter was and will be the **only** chapter to confuse you all – and things will straighten out and get better. Your review was very sweet and upfront, and you are honest – not only did you spend time reading my story but you also spent time writing back to help me which I think is priceless. ^_^ I only hope that I will further impress you, and keep you hooked. As I have said in loads of fics before this, I write for the audience so long as there is interest, and low and behold, I think I have done it! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! ^_^

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 2: Misgivings**

**xxxxxx**

Even with the bowl of hot water and the warm steam that rose out of it for Yami to inhale, and despite the blankets and frequent massages all over his body, there was no immediate improvement. Both of them were getting very desperate and worried. Yami himself seemed to have fallen either into a stupor or possibly a coma. For he did not respond at all, even when Solomon pinched his hand. Pinching his hand however did reveal another symptom. When the skin was pinched, it sagged and did not go back into its normal position for a good couple of minutes. Solomon tutted angrily under his breath. To understand what he was really dealing with, he risked opening the blankets for just a second to see the state of this stranger's body. What he saw was quite unpleasant. This man was thin. Bone thin. It was doubtful he would manage to weigh even twenty kilograms.

"Dear God, Yugi, what on earth is going on? He looks starved to death! Yugi, Yugi are you listening to me?" His grandson was silent the whole time. He sat stock-still like a doll. Solomon shook his head. "This is no good. I need to call for help."

"No. Please. He's the pharaoh from the millennium puzzle; Atem. He has no record..."

"But he needs help, Yugi! We need help!" His eyes kept casting back to the prone figure on the floor. Despite the effort they had put into making him warmer, the stranger's cheeks were still alabaster white, and now his lips were slowly starting to turn blue. On top of that his respiration was still rough and unhealthy sounding. It was like he had something in his lungs. As he looked on, upset and distraught, an idea suddenly came to him. He'd call Yugi's friend Joey. That young man was a bit of a nimrod at times, but he had heart, and he could be very level-headed sometimes. He didn't need to leave the room this time. The phone was on a stand by Yugi's bed. He picked it up and started to dial.

Yugi meanwhile looked sick. He sat, seemingly comatose himself. His wide, watery eyes were blank, his face dark and shadowy with dread and horror. He wouldn't answer most of Solomon's questions. He just sat like a pasty, frozen mannequin.

"Hello?" Solomon said when he got through to Joey. "This is Solomon, Yugi's grandfather. Is there any chance you can come over?" There was an obligatory pause as Joey said something on the other side of the line. Then Solomon nodded. "Yes, yes. All right then. See you in an hour then. Goodbye." He put the phone down. "Joey's eating dinner at the moment, and once he's all washed up he'll be right over." He glanced ruefully over at Yugi who hadn't moved a muscle for almost five minutes. "Come on, Yugi. Don't be so worried. Help me lift him and we'll get him onto the bed. Maybe we will use a hot water bottle after all."

Between them they got him onto Yugi's bed, and for ample measure they made sure Yami was well wrapped in blankets and once there was a hot water bottle slipped in to between the blankets so that it couldn't directly burn the pharaoh's skin, they relaxed a little. For Yami had finally stopped shivering. He still lay with his eyes drawn shut, but upon closer inspection Solomon didn't seem quite so panicked. "I think he's in a natural sleep, Yugi. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked, sounding very dubious and mistrustful of his grandfather's diagnosis.

"Well, for one thing, his temperature has risen nicely. Give him another hour and we'll slip some pyjamas on him. Then we'll fix him up a hot drink and get him to have that. Now, Yugi..." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Can you please tell me what is going on? This man looks just like you... but... but where did he come from, and why?"

Yugi frowned more in annoyance than anger. "Grampa, he's the pharaoh from my puzzle! He's the spirit that I've been talking to all this time! And now he's finally manifested his own body!"

"But... magic like that surely cannot...?" He paused. He was about to say that magic did not, could not possibly exist. But if that was so, then why did he believe in the cards so much? And why did he believe in the magic of Egyptian artefacts of a time long gone? He reconsidered his ideals and looked on, quite bewildered. What was he supposed to believe now? That Yugi's puzzle had indeed materialised a creature from an item? It was witchcraft! What else could it be?

"And his full name?" Solomon requested, doing his best to keep his voice steady and neutral.

"Yami. Yami Atem. That's his full name."

"Yami Atem?" He shook his head in dismay, but smiled all the same. "What am I going to do with you?" He got up and ruffled Yugi's hair. "I going to boil the kettle and fix him up a drink. Joey should be here soon."

Yugi nodded but did nothing until Solomon had left. Then he got up and came round to the bed so that he was close to the sleeping pharaoh. And his grandfather seemed to be right in the assumption that Yami had sunken into a normal sleep. He seemed to be reposing quite naturally, and his sides went up and down slowly as he breathed. No longer did his lungs seem short on air – or effort. And all the crease lines on Yami's brow were all marred away. He really did look beautiful as he lay there, unperturbed.

"Yami, it's really you, isn't it?" Yugi sought for his hand under the blankets and was relieved and happy to find that it was very warm to the touch. He squeezed it gently. Yami was physical! He was really here! In his bed, sleeping like a normal person! No longer was he transparent and weightless. Yugi leaned down and nuzzled into the pharaoh's shoulder, satisfied to feel bone and flesh. This was better than a dream. This was a true miracle! How Yami had figured it out was beyond him, but it must have consisted from using an awful lot of energies from the dark realm. And what did it matter now, really? It had worked, and that was all that mattered.

Yugi composed himself and dried some of the tears that had started to well up in his eyes from both happiness and the shock of Yami's collapse. Yet there was a timid smile on Yugi's pale face.

Carefully he picked up the pharaoh's hand and held it to the light. The fingers sagged lifelessly in Yugi's grip. They were quite long, delicate fingers, quite unlike his. His own were far shorter, and a little pudgy. But Yami's was sleek and lithe and very feminine. The doorbell rang downstairs at the front of the shop but Yugi ignored it. His eyes were narrowed in concentration as he traced his fingers down the bones of Yami's hand and found nothing out of place. The purple veins beneath the skin were interwoven like his were, and the pharaoh's nails were strong and unchipped. Aside from being too thin, Yami's body was near enough perfect.

Downstairs the door of the shop opened and Yugi could just about hear Solomon and Joey conversing. Yugi tucked the pharaoh's hand back beneath the covers and brushed some of the glistening golden bangs from Yami's closed eyes. Was Yami always this beautiful, even in spirit form? It had always been a little hard to tell with the pharaoh had been see-through. He had been a ghost after all – an uneasy, unsettled ghost with no memories to call his own until that day he remembered his name... and then everything began to change.

Someone was running up the wooden staircase. Yugi glanced round just in time to see Joey coming through the doorway of his bedroom. Who knew what his grampa had said to his friend in such a short time upon his arrival, but the look on his face was one of bleary excitement and wonder. "Jesus, Yuug! What the hell?"

"What did grampa say?"

"That you had gone crazy for real this time, and that you had 'resurrected' the Pharaoh inside your puzzle." Joey strode casually forwards, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he was a metre away from the foot of the bed. He glared down at what lay sleeping in the blankets. "It's really him, isn't it? It's your... your guy! You actually got him... here? Out of the puzzle for good? Holy God!"

Yugi nodded. "It's really him, Joey. He found a way to harness the right amount of energy to form a body of his own, though I don't yet know how. And here he is. It's okay, Joey. He won't bite. He's sleeping."

Joey closed the final distance and looked over Yugi's shoulder at the pharaoh fast asleep. He instantly took note of the golden bangs, the flourish of black and red hair. Yes, he had seen this man before, but only in half glimpses as Yugi duelled. "He really does look like your damn brother, and he's really here!" Joey could all but confess. "Has he said anything?"

"No. Not a word. We actually have a huge problem on our hands."

"And that is...?"

"When he materialized from the millennium puzzle, he sorta just fell down and couldn't get back up. It was like he was having an asthma attack or something. So we wrapped him up and put him to bed... And... and..." He started off explaining this quite steadily. After all, the events had kept replaying mercilessly in his head until everything became a merging nightmare. But as he explained it, a fresh wave of tears hit him out of nowhere and he couldn't finish his next sentence. He burst into tears. Joey bit his lip and threw a comforting arm around Yugi's shaking shoulders.

"Hey! Easy there! Jeez, all this is rather confusing, but I gotta admit you're one brave kid, Yuug. Whatever happened - happened, and you stuck with it. You aren't crazy, and this other Yugi is really here, with us! That's really good news! He isn't a lost spirit anymore! He's alive! I might be dreaming this all up, but in the meantime I believe ya." He looked over at the sleeping pharaoh while Yugi's laments began to ease up a little. "And he looks mighty fine. Too damn fine. You do realize he'll be attracting every girl on the block from one to sixty miles away, right? Were all pharaohs this sexy? Mai will never let go of him, and I don't think Anzu will either."

At that, Yugi couldn't help but laugh. Joey always made him smile again. He rubbed away his tears and snuffled. "Yeah. He is pretty. I'm just very worried about him. And I can't feel him in the puzzle anymore." He lifted the upside down pyramid closer to his face. No longer did it emit its usually customary warmth and no longer did he sense a presence within it. "I'm guessing that it's because Yami has moved out of it – completely. But can he move back into it?"

Joey shook his head. "I don't think so, Yuug. But then, who knows?" He looked back at Yami and couldn't resist touching him. His fingers stroked the pharaoh's left cheek for a moment, and when he drew away, he was shaking a little. "God damn! He's bloody real awright! Do you know what this means?"

"What?" Yugi asked, a little concerned at the shrill tone in his friend's voice.

"It means that he can do everything we do! Wear clothes, eat! Have sex! Have fuckin' kids! Holy crumbs this is big!" It seemed that the reality of Yami's metamorphosis was finally dawning on Joey. Yugi had already considered and known this for years if Yami ever became real, and it was of no shock for him of these concepts. But for Joey he seemed a little overly excited.

"Yes, Joey. He can do all those things. But you are forgetting how fragile he is right now."

Joey paused in his storm of ideas and looked at Yugi. "Fragile?"

"Yes. Ever since he scared me half to death by collapsing on my bedroom floor, I have been thinking long and hard about a few things."

"Yeah?"

"Yami's body is completely new. We do not know what his immune system is like, or how strong it is. We also don't know how healthy he is. This body he conjured up for himself might not be very strong at all. We are going to need to look after him until he gets a little stronger on his own. Will you help him, Joey?"

Joey nodded. He didn't even need to consider his answer. "Of course, Yuug! How could I not? Look at him! He looks so damn cute! I think Anzu might have competition, because I would certainly date him!"

Yugi tried to suppress his giggles by laughing into his hands. "Oh Joey!"

"Have you seen his eyes? Do they look like yours?"

Yugi nodded. "Better. They look like the crushed gems of the finest amethyst. And they are very piercing." Saying this brought a little rue into Yugi's soul. Yami hadn't kept his eyes open for very long, and he hadn't looked particularly 'with it' either before he fell unconscious. But then, the shock of coming to life in a new mortal shell was probably too much for Yami, and perhaps it was inevitable that he had fainted like he had.

"Awright," Joey began in his usual happy go-lucky demeanour, "so what shall we do when he wakes?"

"Grampa's making him a hot drink. I think it's a little too soon to give him food though. I've... I've never done anything like this before."

Joey shoved him playfully on the shoulder. "Don't get so down, buddy. He'll be all right. He's the King of Games, ain't he? He'll know what to do!"

Yugi sat back, a little comforted to have Joey with him. The question remained though: would Yami know what to do when he woke?

The deep mauve evening went dark. Joey hang around, entertaining himself by eating Yugi's left over pizza in the fridge and playing on his game console in his room with the volume down low so as not to shock Yami when he woke. Yugi grew increasingly upset as the hours crawled along. It was a damn college night. Tomorrow was Friday, and he hadn't done any homework.

The sensible thing would be to take the day off, and then he would have the weekend to look after Yami until Monday. It sounded like a good plan. Yugi hardly ever took sick days off, so that was no trouble. However, Yami showed no signs of waking. Solomon had come in about half an hour ago and he had dutifully changed the hot water bottle for a new one. This continued to keep Yami very warm, but he needed pyjamas on his skin. It just seemed immoral to dress him when he was clearly asleep - and what was worse was that if he woke in the middle of them changing him. Would he go nuts? Would he freak out? It was hard to measure out a reaction considering he hadn't reacted to anything yet.

"You should go home, Joey." Yugi said at last. Joey was playing a Call of Duty game. Even though he had the volume turned right down, there was still the unmistakable sound of explosions and gunfire. "He's not going to wake for a while yet I don't think, and you need your sleep."

Joey glanced over at him with a coy smile on his face. "You really think we're going into college tomorrow, Yugi, with a pharaoh in your bed? You've gotta be mad! I ain't going to college. They can give Triston my homework and I'll finish it before Monday." He went back to his game.

Yugi smiled. It was great to have such friends. "Thank you, Joey."

"No sweat."

There was momentarily silence between them for a time and all that could be heard was Yami's gentle inhales and the crash and spray of gunfire on the TV screen. Then Yugi said, "Joey, have I done the right thing?"

Joey put his game on PAUSE. He turned to look at his smaller friend fully. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Yami was discussing this whole 'body transfer' pretty seriously when he was still a spirit inside the puzzle, and he knew the pros and the cons. Only he wouldn't do it without my consent. I agreed that he become real. So whatever would befall him would be my fault. So, I ask again, have I done the right thing, Joey?"

Joey put the games controller down and stepped over to his friend. "Look." He said. He had stopped his smiles and his playful mannerisms. "Stop taking it out on yerself. I know how serious and worrisome you can get Yugi, but blaming yourself isn't right. You both made a decision and neither of you could have foreseen the outcome. Besides," he gestured at Yami, "look at what he achieved! It's something to celebrate, Yuug!"

"What if... what if..." He felt so pathetic. He felt like he was nine years old all over again when he was being picked on by an older child because he didn't have a mother or a father. "What if he..."

Joey placed a reassuring hand on Yugi's shoulder. "He isn't going to go anywhere. We'll look after him. Right now we want to keep this to ourselves so we won't invite Anzu or Triston over. We'll keep things slow for this 'Yami' of yours, okay? Slow and easy like." Yugi looked away, and didn't seem altogether convinced. Joey faintly smiled. "Have a little faith in him, kiddo."

"I wish he would just wake." Yugi finally hissed in vexation. "What if he's hurting someplace, and he can't tell me where it is?"

Joey shook his head. "You worry way too much, buddy. Give the guy time, like you said. If it makes you feel any better, I'll switch my game off."

"Thanks."

Time ticked away. Yugi and Joey played Black Jack to pass the time. They made a space on the floor and took turns at who would play the dealer. Too often Yugi's purple eyes would fall on the clock high up on the wall. It was three in the morning. Demon Hour. He could hear his grandfather shuffling about downstairs. It seemed that he couldn't sleep either. In another few hours the sun would be rising, and both he and Joey felt dead tired. Yugi kept rubbing at his eyes. Then, Solomon came through the door and smiled sadly when he saw that they were doing their best to keep awake. He held a tray and on it were two mugs of black coffee.

"Maybe we should wake him?" Joey asked. He took a mug and he let it warm his cold hands.

"No. It could traumatise him." Yugi said quickly. "Don't forget that he's been stuck in the puzzle for over three thousand years. He won't know where he is or what's going on around him."

"Yugi's right, I guess." Solomon agreed with a light inclination of the head. "In any case, I have everything ready downstairs for him for when he does wake. The kettle is all boiled and I have a plate of mashed banana and dry biscuits. I also went and hunted in the cupboard for these." He held up two packets that read 'electrolytes' on them. "This natural drug helps the body absorb water. I'll mix it into his drink when he comes round. As for you Joey, are you really prepared to stay?"

"You bet." Came his terse, if rather tired reply.

"Okay then. If he wakes, give me a call. I'll see you boys soon." And he left the room.

"Your grampa's real nice, Yuug." Joey commented.

"Yeah. I think he's worried about Yami too. It's all just new to him and he doesn't quite understand the situation yet. But he will."

They went back to playing their game. After a while, Joey, who had obviously been thinking this over for some time, asked, "I doubt us waking would upset him, ya know. You say he's been trapped in the puzzle for over three thousand years en' all, and I know that's the truth, but he's been inhabiting your body for a good few years. He knows what it's like to... to do things..."

Yugi smiled faintly. "I'm not sure. Yes, some or most of what you say is true. It's just that... I want to be cautious is all. Everything will be his now, every part of his body. He won't have me to fall back on. Don't forget that his whole world, his entirety rested inside the puzzle and its many dark rooms and doors. What if this is all too much for him? What if I..."

Joey rested a hand on Yugi's. "Hey, have a little more faith in him. Sorry, it was me that started all this doubt!" He smiled. It was a big, dopey smile. "As long as he sees you, and knows that you are close, he'll do well. Just limit his space, and let him see your home one room at a time. I think he needs that at least."

"You're pretty smart when you use your brain, Jonouchi."

Joey grinned wider and ruffled Yugi's multicoloured hair.

Still, their anxiety remained like a bad blood stain. Yugi rose from their card game many times to sit beside the sleeping pharaoh. There would be no change in Yami's breathing, and his pulse remained steady. It was amazing how everything had been perfectly formed. His skin showed no abnormalities and there were no abrasions or injuries. He was perfectly... normal, except of course for the awful thinness he had. He needed something in him soon. Very soon.

"Perhaps we should sleep, Yuug." Came Joey's sudden suggestion. "I mean, it'll pass the time, and he might wake with the dawn when we do."

"Sleep. What a fanciful thing."

"We can at least try it."

"Yeah..." Yugi sighed, totally unconvinced.

Joey rose and joined Yugi next to the bed. "What's on yer mind, dude?"

"I'm just thinking about how awful it was for Yami to be trapped like that in the puzzle, and stuck with all those confusing, relentless rooms that had no meaning, and with endless doors that led to more infinite doors."

"It's over for him now, Yuug. You've done the right thing."

You've done the right thing...

Yugi took Joey's suggestion and they curled up in their separate sleeping bags. Yugi didn't know that darkness could last so very long. Each hour dragged by. Yami's breathing remained scratchy and faint. Often he would leave the warmth of his sleeping bag and admire him in the dark and trace his fingers lightly over the contours of his face and look down on those perfect dark eyelashes. He was a beautiful pharaoh. It had never really bothered Yugi that they shared the same hair, or the same eyes. Now he began to wonder.

"Yami," he whispered pensively in his ear, "please wake up. We're all waiting for you. You're free, Yami. You're free. Please wake up. I... I really miss you."

It was now a quarter past five in the morning. Yugi slipped back into his sleeping bag just as restless as before.

He silently cried on his pillow.

* * *

**Dib07: There ya go! Chappie 2 all done! ^_^ See this story next week for an update! (3rd June)**


	3. Little Steps

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Notes:**

**A/N:** Hello again! As promised, the next update! Your reviews have all been very kind and thoughtful. It honestly does keep me going, and I have to say I do enjoy writing this story quite a lot. So, please enjoy and don't forget to drop a message or a thought.

A special thank you to MckinlayHeatherBell and BuildingaBetterTomorrow for keeping me on track and giving me support. :)

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 3: Little Steps  
**

**xxxxxx**

When Yami woke it was a quietly joyous thing, at least, at first. Yugi had previously given clear instructions for no one to shout or cry out. The pharaoh opened his eyes a few times, but it was obvious that he was having trouble waking. Yugi leaned over towards him and gave his partner a kiss on the forehead. When he leant back a little, Yami was looking at him confusedly. "A-Aibou?" His voice was like autumn wind scattering the brown leaves. There was no strength in his words, only something cracked and hoarse.

Yugi nodded delightfully. "Yes, Pharaoh, it's me. Are you ready to sit up for me?"

Solomon spoke in a near-whisper from the edge of the bed, "Give him time, Yugi. He may not have the strength."

"That's Grampa." Yugi said in case Yami reacted badly to the voice of another's presence. But luckily he did not.

"Aibou? Am I in your spirit room somehow?"

Yugi shook his head at him, his grin absolutely beaming. "No, silly! You're alive! We did the whole ritual thing, remember? You stepped out of the puzzle! You are no longer just a spirit! Don't you remember?"

Yami frowned – clearly intrigued and a little concerned as if Yugi was having a joke. Despite Solomon's warnings, he went to sit up. Yugi quickly positioned the pillows so that they supported Yami's bony back. Joey stepped forwards too to keep the blankets from falling down Yami's bare chest that was literally all ribs; if they had had the time, they would have been able to count every single one.

Yami had a good look around. Yugi sat quiet and still while the pharaoh surveyed the room with half-lidded eyes. It was evident even after his long sleep that he was still unmistakably tired.

"Is this your room, little one?" He inquired after some time. His once gorgeous eyes were dull and opaque.

Yugi nodded. "It's ours now." He said. "You've had a good sleep and now you need to eat, Atem. What would you like to it?" He wasn't sure what else to say. He had never spoken to Yami formally before as if he were an actual person that ate, and got cold or had real bodily needs.

Yami shook his head, clenched his eyes shut, and shivered. He didn't seem all there. It was probably from the shock of 'morphing' out of his puzzle.

Grampa stole away to get something for Yami to try. Yugi wrapped an arm around Yami's terribly gaunt shoulders. "Pharaoh, you've slept a lot since coming to the real world. Tell me honestly, how are you feeling? Any pain at all, any discomfort?"

Yami glanced slowly up at him, and blinked owlishly several times as if Yugi had just asked him what the formula was for an atomic bomb. Then he said, "I feel so horribly tired, and w-weak. It's as if the underworld has me in her clutches."

"Atem, any pain?" There was sharp urgency in Yugi's voice. Yami had to answer honestly. If there was an internal problem inside the former Pharaoh: one that they couldn't see since the 'rebirth', than Yami had to inform them, or else it could very well end his short life.

No one seemed to breathe at that moment. Even Joey's face fell with sudden anxiety.

Then, finally, Yami rasped, "No. No pain."

Yugi moved from the bed and scrounged around in his bottom dresser drawer for clothes. Yami watched on from the bed with dopey eyes. Joey, hands retreating from their pockets, came towards the reborn pharaoh. "Hey, urm... Yami is it?"

Yami slowly swerved his eyes up at Yugi's best friend. "Yes, Jonouchi?"

"So, no amnesia or anything?"

"Not... that I am aware of."

"Yeah, stupid question really." Joey bent down and felt along Yami's temples and forehead, suspecting a fever. Surprisingly the gaunt former pharaoh's temperature felt normal. "Wow. Two Yugi's. At once! I feel like I am supposed to be drunk or something!"

Yugi turned around, clothing bundled in his arms. "Joey, be careful with him!"

"I am, I am!"

Yugi shook his head in exasperation and stood back up. "Jonouchi, do me a favour and help me dress him. He needs to be kept warm, and we couldn't do this last night while he was sleeping."

The blankets were regrettably pushed down to Yami's bellybutton and at once Yugi shoved a loose, super soft vest on him before he could get too cold. Yami complied but his movements were slow and torpid. Next Yugi eased on a velvety warm and comfortable blue, starry pyjama top. Luckily it fitted Yami incredibly well – some of it was even too big, but that didn't matter. Next they pushed down the blankets even lower and between them; they slipped on pyjama trousers and a pair of thick bedtime socks. Joey was incredibly compliant during the whole performance, and even Yami was evidently too dazed to follow quite what they were doing to him.

Once that was done they snuggled Yami back up again with the blankets coming all the way up to his chin.

Joey looked incredibly pale. At first Yugi plainly thought it was because his best friend that seen Yami's mature manhood, but it was only later that he realized why Joey had looked so white. It was because of Yami's insane thinness. He looked like a famine victim with his hips standing out like ridges in a gully, and a ribcage so skeletal that he looked like something that belonged in the morgue. His thighs were as thin and as stick-like as the rest of his legs, and his stomach was like a long, shallow slope with nothing going back up. Joey was both sickened and saddened.

Solomon came in with food. It was milky bread and a cup of sugared water to get Yami started. After sitting him up a little more Yugi passed him the bread. Yami almost swallowed it straight away, much to Yugi's horror. "No, No, Phar – Yami, you have to chew it first! It breaks it up so that your stomach can digest it easier, and it stops you from choking yourself!"

On the second try (Yugi gave him a smaller piece), Yami chewed it and swallowed. Solomon offered him the cup of water, and Yami swallowed some of that down too. However he did not eat out of hunger, merely because he was instructed to eat.

After a few more mouthfuls of the bread and a sip of water, Yami refused anymore. He was very tired.

Yugi checked the time. The Pharaoh had been up for over twenty minutes. That was progress, wasn't it?

Yami was dropping off to sleep. His eyelids were falling despite his will to remain awake longer. Solomon and Yugi helped lie him gently down on his back after five minutes – hoping that that was enough time for his tiny stomach to accept the food. Joey looked on, a smile no longer brightening his countenance. His face was quite the opposite.

In little to no time at all Yami was fast asleep. All three of them watched him snooze as if trapped by some magical spell. At last Joey broke the peaceful, mesmerizing silence. "I hate to break it to you guys, but he looks pretty sick."

"It makes perfect sense if you think about it." Yugi said, his head down. "The puzzle set Yami free, and it gave him his body back, and using his original DNA, gave him what was owed. But it gave him no nourishment, no sustenance for that body. I am not sure how it all works, but it explains his thinness."

"Yugi, he could die!"

Solomon looked close to interrupting, but he held himself back. These two needed to get their troubles on the table.

"Shut up!" Yugi turned to him, his usually passion-filled eyes now glaring with grief, confusion and anger. "You think I don't know? Or that I am ignoring his turmoil? Well I am not! We're gonna try all we can!"

"A hospital might be the best start!" Joey shouted back.

"Me and Grampa have already been over this!" Yugi said, not losing his tempest. "He has no record! They take some of his blood, and they'll run tests sure, but he'll freak out every time he wakes in that place, and then they dope him up so that he's always under sedation! And then they'll ship him back to Egypt because he isn't Japanese!" Tears pricked his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

"Whooh, Yuug! I'm sorry. I hadn't given it enough thought... but still, I'm really worried about him, ya know?"

"Yeah. Me too."

Both of them fell silent. Yugi looked over at his sleeping companion. "We need to weigh him." Joey whispered in the quiet of the room.

Yugi tearfully nodded.

"We'll give him twenty four hours." Grampa said. "That time will be critical, and if he doesn't improve then, we'll take him to the hospital, agreed?"

"Agreed." Yugi muttered feebly.

It was Solomon who did the honours. After giving Yami a solid hour of uninterrupted sleep, he very gently scooped the little pharaoh into his arms and walked over to the weighing scales which he had brought in earlier. Solomon knew he was no angel when it came to keeping a good weight, but either way he knew that on the scales he weighed a good, generous sixty five kilograms. When he stood on the scales with Yami all he had to do was subtract the excess weight from his own. The scale dawdled upwards along the scale past the seventy mark and into the eighties. Yugi and Joey regarded the results beside him, their faces bleak. The marker stopped at eighty eight kilograms, which meant that Yami only weighed a tragic twenty three kilograms. Joey was right. Yami was at death's door.

To be alive again, only to succumb to a dark end with the body the puzzle had given him? Yugi didn't understand.

Solomon tucked Yami back into bed, and took his pulse in his wrist. He didn't like the feel of that either.

He went downstairs and immediately started putting on his coat and shoes. Yugi watched him from the banisters. "Grampa, what are you doing?" His voice sounded shrill and hysterical.

"Don't worry, Yugi. I'm only going to the local shops to buy our new grandson special food and medicine. He needs it asap so I won't be long. If he wakes again, keep giving him sips of warmed sugary water with plenty of breaks in-between."

Then he was out through the door. Yugi was a little stunned. The joy of Grampa finally adopting Yami as his own was short lived by the worry of the pharaoh's grave health.

The single most thing that rang like a sharp bell in his mind was:

_I've done the wrong thing._

_Good Lord I've done the wrong thing!_

_I shouldn't have allowed Yami to be free like this. He'll die, and it'll be all my fault!_

Then he felt Joey's hand on his shoulder. It came with its own reassuring weight: and warmth. "It's all right, little buddy. We've got this covered. I'm sorry I shouted at ya before. Come on. Let's keep the old pharaoh company! When he's actually conscious for more than twenty minutes one day, I am so gonna ask him what happened to Ramses the Third!"

Yugi wiped his tears on the back of his sleeve. "He might not even have been around in that period of time, Joey."

"Okay, well then I am gonna ask him how the bleedin' hell did they really made the pyramids then! And if they used slaves, and how long it took them to build it..."

They sat on chair by the bed on either side of the pharaoh, and Yami slept on. He seemed to sleep a little easier. His sides rose and fell more naturally and it was good to see him no longer shaking and shivering.

Yugi was smiling weakly in the lamp light. Though it was a bright morning outside, they had kept the curtains shut to allow the pharaoh to sleep comfortably in a semi-darkened room.

Joey looked up from leaning on the palm of his hand. "What's got your tail, Yugi?"

Yugi blushed slightly and looked away. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Now, when you say that I gotta ask even more and it sure as hell ain't nothing. Come on short stuff! Tell!"

"Well, I don't think you'll understand."

"Try me."

"Okay. Urm, well, I'm sure it was all a dream but it wasn't vague like normal dreams are when one wakes. It's real to me, like a memory. I was playing in my room; the one in my mind. There is only one door and I never use it. Anyway, the door opened only very gently, and I saw a grave figure standing there. I was shocked and afraid at first. No one had looked into my room before. But then I relaxed. It was Yami. He had crossed the dark threshold between our rooms, and he was looking down at me from his blood red eyes."

"Odd."

"Yeah, kinda. But he looked terrified, as if he had just stepped on a landmine or something. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, but he wanted to see me I guess. I looked up at him and asked him to come in. He only walked back out again. It was as if he was ashamed. Ashamed of being near my warmth. My friendship. As if he didn't deserve it."

"What happened then?"

"Well, I went after him. I opened my door and stepped out into that dark, ominous corridor between our rooms. His door was shut. On it was that eye, you know, the one with the big Egyptian eye on it?"

"I don't know but continue."

"Well, he had gone. I opened the door but there was no sign of him. All there was were these doors, and rooms and made me dizzy for looking. Some of them were twisted until they were upside down. Others were on their sides. It's hard to explain but his room was a convoluted mess of doors and rooms that didn't make sense. And there was no sign of him."

"Did you go after him?"

"I did. I know it was stupid. If I got lost in there, I got lost for good. I didn't know it at the time but I felt that surety. I had to find him though: it sounds silly but I felt his loneliness. His need for company. I could not carry on playing in my room, knowing that he was crying and alone in his."

"No wonder you wanted him alive, and in our world..." Joey breathed reverently.

"Anyway," Yugi continued, "every door I opened, every room I looked through, he was nowhere to be found. I knew he was hiding from me, yet watching me from afar at the same time. Eventually I felt a soft pull: so soft I barely felt it, and like that I was back in my own room."

Joey nodded perceptively. "He wanted you back, safe and sound, and so Yami took you back."

"Yeah. I was angry at first. I thought: how dare he push me away when all I want to do is help him! But all he wanted was my safety. I didn't think he was quite ready to be comforted. You see, loneliness is all he's known: drifting through those rooms and catacombs like a wraith. He didn't know what to do with me. He's learnt in time, but despite all our adventures, all the card games and the good times we've had, there is still this core of loneliness I have yet to cure."

"So you thought bringing him here, to our realm, would do it?"

"Is it selfish of me to say yes?"

"It was Yami's decision also, and you both took a gamble." Joey looked down at Yami sleeping soundly. He was an inert sleeper. He hadn't so much as twitched since he had fallen back into the realm of dreams. Joey sighed. "Oh Yuug. I'd love to say it was all worth it, but I hate seeing Yami in pain."

"We'll feed him up. We will. We _must_."

But when he looked at Yami's sleeping form to see that scrawny chest barely rise as he breathed, his conviction was like a straw house in a very bad storm.

* * *

**TBC**


	4. Getting to Know Our Pharaoh

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Notes:**

**A/N:** Hello! This chapter was huge so I had to edit out a lot to keep it down to a reasonable amount. The only other major note here is that there was once a belief that Yugi was diabetic and though that no longer holds true - it applies in this story. So yup that's about it.

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 4: Getting to Know Our Pharaoh  
**

**xxxxxx**

Yami didn't want the food at first. He complained of its taste equally as he did its smell and appearance. Grampa of course had bought a trolley full of special food indeed. Baby food.

Now, though Joey too was shocked at what Solomon had bought, it came to perfect sense. Baby food was very edible, contained all the necessary vitamins and supplements, and was the easiest food to safely digest. Yami was so thin and sickly that this was the only safe food he could eat without vomiting it all back up again.

There was apple flavour, chicken flavour, peach and raspberry and so on.

Yami refused the chicken version. Grampa accepted this for the time being and replaced it for the apple one.

"It looks like you are my new grandson," Solomon was saying in a deep, strict tone, "and if so, that means you are under my rules. Now you eat this spoonful right now." Solomon could look quite scary when he wanted to be. Yami took the spoonfuls henceforth offered, and eventually, after a couple of days of this, he got used to the baby food. After all, in the end they all tasted about the same no matter the labelled flavour.

No longer quite so shell shocked, Yami was allowed to have sleeping company. Yugi slept beside him in bed during the long days and nights with the wild, wintry wind cooing against the doors and windows.

Joey continued to stay over. It was clear he was still worried, as was Yugi over the pharaoh's delicate health.

One night, three days after Yami's 'rebirth,' the pharaoh showed the first signs of growing restless. These were fake signs of course. Yami had no strength to do anything, let alone start walking about. He was feeling energy for the first time and it made him feel fidgety and uneasy. Also Solomon had issued strict bed rest. Yami couldn't even leave the bed to pee, so he had to do it in a bucket as he sat on the edge of the bed (but then again, he had accidently wet the bed more times than he had peed in the bucket).

It was also true that Yami, for whatever reason, was still shaken and in some kind of aftershock from the whole 'rebirth' process. Copiously Yugi would see the dull-eyed pharaoh staring off into space and when he was interacting with someone, he would often look through them as if they were transparent and he could see the wall on the other side. He was very forgetful too, and half the things Yugi told him were quickly flung to the wayside. Solomon tried to reassure Yugi as best he could. "What happened to him when he came out of the puzzle was very traumatic for him, Yugi. Also, his brain hasn't the energy to cope yet either. Give him time, and give him great patience. If we rush things too fast for him, he may get worse."

During the recent three days, there was also something very alarming that they had discovered about the pharaoh. Whether it was from Yugi's DNA that he might have shared when he had come into being or from his past life they couldn't be sure (and Yami didn't understand the medical word for it either), but under close observation they had found that Yami was diabetic. Like all typical diabetics his pancreas couldn't produce enough insulin to combat and process the sugars in his body, and without a dose of insulin he would not only go into shock, he would eventually die.

Easing the first insulin shot into Yami hadn't been a fun experience. Solomon wanted to find the safest, easiest way for Yami, and he found that the best route was simply introducing the hypodermic needle to the Egyptian and explaining how helpful and lifesaving the instrument was. After all, they could not keep hiding the needle from him and fumble with excuses every time they needed to give him an insulin shot after his food. And luckily there was no shortage of insulin, for Yugi was a diabetic sufferer himself and got it over the counter at the pharmacy. It did seem strange however, that Yami had picked up the exact same condition. Strange indeed, and though they puzzled over this, they had to concentrate on Yami's strength first.

"Can I test my legs?" Yami asked as he sat up in bed, copiously snuggled up with blankets. He was still a thin, sickly looking creature whose skin was as white as a winter sky. He was wearing pink pyjamas today on account that he had wet the bed earlier in the day and everything had to be thrown in the laundry bin in exchange for new ones.

"No." Yugi sat on the bed by his legs. "You can't."

"I'm tired of sitting here, Aibou."

"I know, but you must listen to me, Yami. You are not strong enough."

"A card game then? Here, on the bed?" He asked wistfully.

Yugi smiled sadly. "No. It would be too much excitement for you."

"A book?" He tried again after giving it some thought.

"You can't read Japanese."

"Oh..."

Yugi got an idea. "How about I read you one?"

"Excuse me?"

"I read you a story?"

Yami nodded. "I would like that." He said. His smile was feeble, but it was a sunny smile.

Yugi left the bed and scanned his library of books for a suitable story. No doubt Yami wouldn't be able to keep awake past the third page, but it would be good to read to him.

After a good scrutiny of the books, Yugi pulled out a thick, chunky book titled; The Fables of Aesop. Yami was watching him most carefully. It would only come to fruition later exactly how Yami would be and act as a human being for the first time in over three thousand years, but for the time being the future didn't matter. It was just the two of them, and that was all.

Yugi brought the heavy tome over and laid it out across his thighs when he had sat back on the chair by the bed. He turned a few dozen pages, leaving the longer tales out. Yami looked on, evidently intrigued. "Don't you have any Egyptian legends or stories?" He asked.

Yugi shrugged apologetically. "No. I need to go to the book store and buy some. It's silly of me really... I never thought to buy any."

"That's all right, Aibou. After all, I'm sure the world has moved on."

As Yugi turned to page fifty four, the chapter titled: 'The Traveller and the Bear,' he watched the pharaoh out of the corner of his eye. Yami's right hand was touching his own sternum, and the Pharaoh was frowning, worried, as if anxious that he could still feel a heartbeat there.

"One day," Yugi began, reaching over and putting Yami's hand down, "two friends were travelling along the road together. One was a merchant and the other was a bard. It was mid afternoon and they were walking towards the town when a bear came lumbering out of the woods by the main road. The bard rushed for the nearest tree, and without a thought for his friend the merchant, the bard climbed up to safety in the branches."

"What is a bard?" Yami interrupted.

"Well, it's an entertainer, like a singer."

"Ah. We generally call them magicians or conjurors in Egypt. We had dancers too. Most were women, but we had men too dressed in fine silk wraps and..."

"Yes, well..." Yugi said, grinning despite himself. Then he coughed to clear his throat and continued. "The merchant knew that he had no chance against a bear and the beast was right on top of him, so he threw himself to the ground and lay still: pretending to be dead. He held his breath as much as he could while the bear sniffed and nuzzled his clothing. Finally the bear: more interested in the merchant's rucksack, took off with that instead. For a time the merchant didn't dare move. Then he cautiously raised his head and scrambled to his feet.

'You can come down now,' he called to his friend.

Still trembling, the bard left the tree and clambered to the ground. 'That bear put his mouth very close to your ear.' He said. 'What did the bear whisper?'

'Nothing much.' Answered the merchant. 'He just told me to be more careful not to choose friends who leave me in the lurch at the first sign of danger.'" Yugi closed the book. "Hey Yami, I just thought, I don't need to buy Egyptian folklore books! You can just tell me them! If you can remember, that is." But when he looked to Yami for acknowledgement, he could only smile. Yami had fallen asleep.

XXX

"Gee, I really don't think this is a good idea." Joey looked insatiably worried. He scratched irritably at his head – a symptom he often exhibited when he was asked to do something he was less keen on performing. Yami sat - perky and more awake than he had ever been – on the edge of his bed. After five days of being restricted to infuriating bed rest he had finally asked the question of walking – at least to and from his bedroom door. Actually it was more of a demand: a subtle one until by the end of the day he was shouting it. Solomon was downstairs watching TV: thus utterly oblivious to what the boys were up to.

"You can't." Yugi persisted. "Yami, I hate to say this but your legs are that of a newborn gazelle's. You'll collapse before you get anywhere, and you'll hurt yourself."

"Have a little more faith Yugi Motou," The former pharaoh remarked with a sly smile. He rarely used his protégé's full name and it worked to great effect. "I have to regain my strength somehow, and it's not like there is anything wrong with me. Jonouchi, help me up!"

"Why do I always get bridled into this?" But the blonde stepped forward and put one arm beneath Yami's. The pharaoh took a breath and leaned forwards, testing his strength little by little. He planted his socked feet squarely in front of him and leaned his weight forwards again so that his rear left the edge of the bed and his legs took the brunt of his weight. Joey did not falter, and held him tight and securely while Yugi moved round and supported the Egyptian on his other side. Gently, Yami took his very first step.

He rocked forwards, unaccustomed to weight, let alone the gross motor skills for walking. Each step came forward, one after the other, and Joey and Yugi followed his lead compliantly and with quiet pride.

"This is such a bad idea," Jonouchi would moan as Yami wobbled between them like a gangly doll that had been cut free of its turbulent strings. When they got across to the other side of the room, Yami seemed to be breathing heavier. With little fuss they brought him back to the bed in easy, sturdy steps.

The Pharaoh deposited himself onto the bedcovers and gave Joey and Yugi a playful, charming smile. It was a smile only his opponents saw when Yami went in for the kill. "Thank you. Both of you."

"You weigh a ton." Jonouchi said, clearly lying of course. Yami was like a goddamn feather as far as Yugi was concerned. "And you will never, ever try that without us, kapish ?"

Yami nodded. "Yes. I understand." Then his intelligent, freakishly sharp eyes began to scan the room once more. He was like a feral cat seeking his next plaything. Joey was looking at his watch. He was anxious to get back home again, and no wonder. He had been here for hours, if not days, and college had not finished just because Yugi's puzzle had simultaneously given birth to a Pharaoh. They had homework to do, sleep to catch up on.

Yugi placed his hand on Joey's shoulder. "Go home." He said. "We've got to hand in Mrs. Bridget's homework in on Monday concerning those power conductors and how electricity works."

Joey hit his forehead in frustration. "Aww yeah. I hate Mrs. Bridget's homework. She treats us like mules and thinks that we deserve no social life outside of college. Alright then, but I'll be over tomorrow afternoon after college. How about five o'clock?"

"Perfect!"

Yami, quiet and eerily serene, lay on Yugi's bed, his brow deeply furrowed and etched in dark lines. The sun had long ago set behind a steely horizon full of gathering clouds. Before him, splayed in their dozens on the bedcover were duel monster cards. Grampa, without hesitation, had bought Yami lots of boosters and starter decks to boost the collection and structure of his new deck. He had stuck to many of Yugi's originals, which included Swords of Revealing Light, and of course Dark Magician. Yugi sat on the end of the bed, knees held tightly to his chest as his watched Yami methodically arrange, then rearrange his deck, only to count the cards in them before rearranging it again. It pleased Yugi that Yami would always find a fondness for duel monsters. As he watched him, Yugi spotted a Monster Reborn on the bedcover. When the Pharaoh reached over to pick it up and shuffle it into his deck, Yugi made him stop. "Some of the cards are now banned. Not from casual, non-serious duellists of course, who can ever regulate those duels? But for advanced players and tournaments, some cards are illegal."

"Why?" Yami asked, his voice rich and husky from lack of use.

Yugi shrugged. "Well, because they are overpowered. Instead of Monster Reborn, you can use Call of the Haunted instead, but you can only have one in your deck."

Yami pleasantly smiled. "Always the expert! I expect no less!" He put down Monster Reborn and searched for Call of the Haunted to replace it. "Card Destruction?" He asked rather hesitantly.

"Banned."

"Raigeki?"

"Also banned."

"Harpies' Feather Duster?"

"Banned too."

Yami sat up and blew out a sigh. "That's a twist."

Yugi merely lifted up his shoulders again in a half shrug. "The game is always changing and evolving Yami. It's fun. We can go on the internet together and look through the banned and limited card lists together."

"Hmm, yes, this internet that you keep mentioning..."

Solomon knocked on their bedroom door. Both grandsons' glanced up to meet his eyes. "Playing games again?" He said in gentle mirth. "Here, Yami, your new birth certificate. You're going to need to write your name on it, and when you were born. Yugi," he said, nodding at him, "you are going to need to help him with this."

Yugi nodded, slipped off the bed and took the slip of paper from him. "Thanks Grampa. I will."

The old man gave one parting look at Yami, and then he closed the door behind him.

While Yami was studying the monster card Summoned Skull, Yugi gave him the slip of rosy paper and a clipboard to write on. "This is really important, Yami. You have to sign this along the dotted line see, and write your name on the top line. Think you can do that?"

"I know how to write, Aibou." Yami took the pen and paper and began to write or rather – draw - his name. Yami seemed to like the pen and how easily it shaped what he wanted it too. It was hard to stop him from playing around with it. However, when all was said and done, Yami had written his name in hieroglyphs, or rather, a cartouche.

"What's that supposed to be?" Yugi asked.

Yami gave him a surreptitious frown. "My name. What? You want my full name?"

"Do you only know how to write in Egyptian?"

"Well, yes."

Yugi could not help but laugh.

"I can read a little Japanese," Yami continued, regardless, "that's how I came to understand card names and effects, but I do not understand your language enough to write it out or to read a book."

Yugi smiled and shook his head. "It's okay Yami. Let's do it this way, you make a signature down on the bottom right-hand side and I'll write your name. Technically I am your guardian."

Yami smirked. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way round?"

"Hurry up you two, dinner will be ready soon." Solomon shouted from downstairs.

Yugi turned hurriedly to the birth certificate and wrote down: Yami Atem Motou. "How old are you?" He asked him. "It has to go on your file."

Yami lifted his slender shoulders. "How old do I look?"

Yugi smiled. "Twenty two?"

"Can we play duel monsters soon?"

"That's all you ever want to do. Hey, lemme show you the internet first." Yugi carefully put down the certificate and flipped open the lid of his laptop. He hit the 'on' button and the keypad beneath the keys began to glow a soft blue as it came online. Yami regarded with process with a deep, unsettled frown. Then the screen lit up and Yugi hit the keys with his password to log in. Then the screen came alive with icons and an Egyptian desktop. "I can store my data on here," Yugi said, "including online games, my paypal account, and pictures and stuff."

"You are pulling my goat." Yami said in a flat, unimpressed voice. "You can't store anything in that flat old thing that lights up. Does it have gold inside, maybe? Is that why it lights up?"

Yugi laughed gently. He hit the Firefox browser button and Google sprang up. "What shall I type?" He asked.

"Type?" Yami shook his head. "Do you ask it questions? Is it like some mystical object?"

"No, no! It's a machine, Yami! We can search online for almost anything using it. You see, it's connected to a web, and we all share it digitally."

Yami shook his head. "I do not understand, Aibou."

Yugi closed the lid of the laptop. Everything was just too much for Yami, and he felt idiotic for trying to show him everything too soon, too quickly. "It's okay, Yami, don't worry. Come on, I suppose we better go and see what Grampa made us to eat."

"All right." Yami grabbed the crutch that had been left for him by Solomon. He used it as dire support to walk, and though he was gathering strength, he seemed more aimless and less coordinated. Using two feet at once probably needed a little bit more practise.

Yugi meanwhile quickly put the millennium puzzle in his desk drawer. It was a pure item now, it had served its purpose, and Yugi thought fondly of it, but he didn't need to carry it round with him anymore. He closed the drawer and took Yami's hand.

xxx

A week later while Solomon was in the kitchen, Yugi was helping a stiff, unsure pharaoh back up the stairs to the bathroom. Yami was like some kind of giddy, drunken long-legged bird that couldn't walk in a straight line, but at least he was walking now. Yugi was exhausted by the time he had guided and then deposited him on the toilet bowl. Just as Yami was pulling his gossamer black pants down, the phone rang. Since there was an upstairs one in Yugi's room as well as downstairs, Yugi didn't rush to get it. It was probably the wrong number, but he was secretly hoping it was Joey. When he answered he got someone altogether different on the line. It was Mai.

"Hiya, Yugi! A little birdie told me about your huge secret!"

Yugi just stood there, stunned with the phone pressed to his ear. When he finally got his vocals working all he said was: "Oh."

"Don't be so sullen, Yugi! Were coming over! We're not far. I can't believe you didn't tell us! How mean to keep something so big from us!"

Yugi's face scrunched into a frown. It was Joey! Had to be Joey who told them! Either that or he told Honda, and it was Honda who couldn't keep his mouth shut. It was inevitable anyway, he supposed, for the rest of his friends to find out, but he wanted a little more privacy until Yami was good and ready to face everyone, especially when he was still so weak and sickly. What if he caught the flu from someone? Or the excitement just triggered another attack like he had upon his first awakening? Or maybe... "Maybe I'm just worrying too much."

"What was that, Yugi? I couldn't quite hear you."

"Look, Mai, I know you want to see him, but he's quite frail and..."

"Who do you think we are, Yugi? Monsters with an insatiable appetite? Have a little faith, hun. Anyway, we're in town so you'll see us in about twenty minutes."

Us? We? Who else exactly was she bringing with her?

Yugi put the phone down on its cradle. And shivered.

Before he had even put Yami on the bed there was a ring on the doorbell downstairs. Yugi groaned and simultaneously rolled his eyes. Great. Just great. Mai.

"Who's that?" Yami asked, swinging his legs to and fro.

"Our worst nightmare!" He said, before giggling a little. "Prepare to be cuddled and thrown around like a stuffed toy."

Yami cocked his head to one side.

"It's an expression. I'll be right back."

* * *

**Dib07:** Despite how much I took out it was still too long.

Like I said, please review. I know this story isn't being read that much, but I could sure do with some love! XD


	5. The Booster Pack Incident

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

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**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Notes:**

**A/N:** Okay, this chapter is HUGE, and I didn't edit anything out: the reason being is that pretty much everything has relevance except the bath bit, but I thought that was too cute to edit out. So forgive me for uploading something so huge lol, **oh and if you want this story updated, let me know otherwise this story will be put on hold until further notice.** Anyway there is a bit of blood in this one just to warn you guys and gals. So yeah, enjoy!

Also, someone asked me when will Porcelain be updated. It should be updated on Friday the 27th of June! I hope that helps!

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 5: The Booster Pack Incident  
**

**xxxxxx**

"Yugi!" Mai practically threw herself on top of Yugi; arms open as if she was landing from a long, sustained flight. Yugi hugged her back, trying to keep himself from toppling over from her weight. Mai stunk as usual from the overuse of heavy perfumes and deodorant sprays. Then Mai released him and walked into the house.

Anzu stepped in and gave Yugi a peck on the cheek. "It's been, like, forever since I last saw you, Yugi." She said. "How are you?"

"Good. And you?"

"Great! Mai's pretty awesome. She's been taking me to dance classes and late-night parties. You should come!"

"Thanks, but I have a busy schedule! Well, do come in. Would you like tea? Coffee? A soda, perhaps?"

"Got any wine?" Mai asked.

Yugi shrugged. "Yeah. But hold on. No going up the stairs without me, those are the rules."

"Oh, so he's upstairs, is he?" Mai said, chuckling like a little college girl. And it was true that they could barely contain their excitement. While Yugi was pouring a glass of red wine for Mai, and making hot coffee for Anzu, he was being pelted by questions. "So it really is two of you? Two separate entities? Like me and Anzu?" She would ask.

"Yes."

"Does he eat and drink just like you? And poop too?"

"Yes." Yugi rarely showed aggravation, but today he really wanted to put tape across Mai's big mouth.

"So, is it witchcraft or science?" Anzu pondered aloud.

Yugi gave them their drinks. Mai finished her wine in three gulps. And it wasn't a particularly small glass of wine either. "Well," she began, "let's go see him then."

If she contained herself any longer, Mai would explode. So Yugi agreed and took them up the stairs with him at the front. Luckily Yami was being good when they all stepped into the room. He was lying with his head on the pillow, and flipping through a duel monster's magazine. When they all came in, he put the magazine down and waved at his sudden crowd of fans dubiously. "Be gentle!" Yugi cried just as Mai broke rank-and-file and charged over to the pharaoh; arms wide. She trapped the pharaoh in her claws, and Anzu went over too, one hand on her mouth.

"Om my God," she said, "he's real!"

Mai sat Yami up and felt his hands, cheeks and glossy gold, red and black hair. They could not believe what they were seeing, even while he sat there, being pecked over. "There are two of you now!" Mai kept muttering, "I can't believe it! There are two of you! Flesh and blood! This has to be a trick!"

"So, what happened to the puzzle?" Anzu asked, both the women noticing for the first time that neither of the young men were wearing the puzzle at all.

Yugi went over to his nightstand and pulled the top drawer open. He removed the gold, inverted pyramid and showed it to them. "I still have it," he said. "In a way it's still Yami's old spirit home, so I will always keep it and never take it apart."

"How did you do it?" Mai asked. She was still tickling Yami with her touches. She ran her hands down his sides to feel all his palpable ribs.

Yugi shrugged. "He did it. I don't think he knows how either."

"I pulled all my energies together." Yami explained, "And forced myself through a door. A door of light and also pain. I do not remember much else now..."

Mai placed an ear over his thin chest. "He has a heartbeat! Wow! Now this is a genuine miracle!"

"Excuse me!" Anzu cried out, "It's my turn! Let me hear it!"

Yugi could not help but chuckle – especially when Yami pulled a funny expression which said; 'Did you tell them that I am not for sale?'

"And he's so warm!" Mai commented when she finally lifted her head from his chest. "Yami, will you marry me?"

They all burst into laughter, except for Anzu who was suddenly red-hot jealous of Mai.

Mai would not leave him alone, that was for sure. She was still touching his nose and listening to him breathe while Anzu was slowly losing her patience for a turn. "Does Kaiba know about this?" She asked.

Yugi shook his head. "Just Grampa, me and Joey knew about this. I assume Joey or Honda let the cat out of the bag to you two. God knows who else he has told by now."

"I think Kaiba should know."

"Kaiba, are you kidding me? All he'll want to do is duel Yami into oblivion! And I am not having that."

Mai bent forwards and tenderly kissed the pharaoh on the forehead. "You're very beautiful, you know." She told him. "Look after yourself." Just as she was about to stand up, she subtly passed him a small slip of paper into his open hand. Wondering what her intentions were, Yami balled it into his fist so that not even Yugi could see the bit of paper. It was her phone number but to him it was another language.

"So, when are you going to take this little guy out and about?" Anzu asked his other half.

Yugi shrugged. "Soon, when he's got more strength. I don't want to rush anything."

"You should really show him off!" Mai said with a grin. "I know I would!"

The two girls kept staring at Yami with looks of incredibility and love. Yugi smiled in the background. He was so glad Yami was this much better to be pestered and examined. Only a week before had he been too ill to move, and too weak to stand. Things were truly looking up. And Yami had come a long way in himself. He used to be part demon as well as part spirit in the puzzle. And it was only thanks to Yugi's influence and time that he was able to harness his dark powers and push his demon-self away.

Mai and Anzu were reluctant to leave. But leave they had to. Yugi waved goodbye to them from his doorway until they had driven away in Mai's posh, red car.

When he went back up to see Yami, the pharaoh looked a little shell-shocked as if a hurricane had just blown past. Yugi laughed and took him into his arms. "They all love you, Yami! You lucky guy!"

"But I just sorta... sat here." He confided.

Yugi brushed back some loose golden hair that had fallen in front of Yami's eyes and tucked a bang behind his ear. "Being as handsome as you are, all you need to do is sit there!" He wondered right then and right there who Yami might like in terms of a relationship. He had never really thought of it, but Yami was a grown man and he was already masturbating. Or was it still too soon for his testosterone to kick in? Would Yami potentially fall in love? Or had being in the puzzle for so long damaged his ability to ever love another? It was hard to tell. Yugi cupped the dainty pharaoh's cheek and wondered if Yami could ever love him. And that was silly really, wasn't it? Yami and he were more like inseparable twin brothers than lovers. Besides, he doubted Yami could ever love him that way. It would be too weird for starters, but regardless, Yugi couldn't help but wonder...

"Yugi?"

"Huh?"

Yami was frowning. His sharp eyes were shining inquisitively. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yugi blinked and quickly grew very self-aware of himself. "Like what?"

"Like you're studying me."

Yugi drew back. "Was I? Sorry!" He looked about the room to change the subject. This wasn't good. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, and he had never felt uncomfortable with his other half before. "I suppose we had better give you your first, proper bath, since we can't keep giving you sponge baths forever. Then you can play duel monsters for a bit or go to bed. You must be tired."

"A little. But I would love to play duel monsters first."

"Okay well, I have a special, large bundle of booster packs for you. That should keep you busy while I do my homework. College work has become such a chore lately, since I'd rather spend time with you."

Yugi started running the bath, and he added tear-free bubble bath into it and soothing, cream oils. While he was getting Yami's pyjamas and towels ready, Yami opened his hand and quickly looked at the note Mai had given him. There was a list of numbers beneath a jumble of Japanese words, and for the life of him he had no idea what it meant or what it was supposed to read. He got a little worried. Why had Mai passed him this secretly, and not to his protégé? He crumbled the note and slipped it beneath the pillow.

**xxxxx**

The bath was one of great experience for Yami. He was surrounded by love and warmth. The hot water kissed his skin and the creamy bubbles were fun to play with. Yugi meanwhile was washing his great mane of hair for him. When wet, it fell into a clump of different colours, and if it was anything like his own, it would be dense and therefore hard to get dry again. And while Yami was having a fun time eating the bubbles and making small waves hit the sides of the tub, Yugi wasn't enjoying it as much. It was hard seeing the skeleton that was his mou hitori no boku. Yes he had put on something like five pounds (Grampa put him on the weighing scales every evening before bed) but seeing all those ribs, that spiny back, the pelvis, the hollow spaces between his ribs... There was one very amazing thing though, and it was the Duel King's super soft skin. It was baby soft, like new. There were no blemishes, no rough skin, and no marring, just super smooth, pliable, creamy white skin: that could get sunburnt very easily. It was just as well it was winter.

Yami rose his toes to the steamy surface, waggled them, and quickly dipped them back under. With his hands cupped tightly together, he quickly learnt that he could project a stream of water from his hands and hit the far side of the bath. He had also quickly learnt that getting soap or shampoo in the eyes hurt.

"Yami, you gotta pay attention. I can't bathe you every time..."

"Yes, yes. Soak up the bubbles. Wash every part of myself. Wash and shampoo hair. Then rinse and dry myself off. Easy."

"What do you wash yourself with?"

"Bar of perfume?"

"Well, it's called soap. But yes. And you'll need some shower gel too."

Yami squirted another jet of water from his hands. Yugi doused the pharaoh's hair in warm water after having lathered it with apple-scented shampoo. Then he rinsed off his own hands and sat Yami up a little by putting his hands beneath his armpits. "Time to get out." He chided him.

"What? Now, Aibou? But I was just enjoying myself..."

"I know, Yami, but if you don't get out after you've thoroughly washed yourself, the water will turn cold and your hands will get all wrinkly." He helped the former pharaoh up and when it was up to Yami to step out, he sort of tumbled out of the bathtub. Yugi grabbed him with towels and quickly worked on getting him dry. Yami was bullied back and forth by the drying cloths, and the friction and drying stopped him from feeling the chill. Yugi then wrapped his hair into a towel and then put his pyjamas on. It was hard to say if he was putting on any weight. It was clear that he was still abnormally thin, so thin in fact that it was easy to bruise his ribs and stomach just by drying him alone. Yugi would have to weigh him again before bedtime to see if the food he was eating was actually helping.

Yugi then clicked the hairdryer plug into the hallway socket and turned on the hairdryer. Yami clenched at first, terror swimming in his dark amethyst eyes from the loud noise the device was making. But Yugi turned it back off again and explained that it was just blowing hot air, and it was excellent at drying wet hair, or even damp clothing in a hurry.

Trusting the words of his charge, Yami removed the towel holding his wet hair, and Yugi sat and combed it through from above with blasts of hot air. The former pharaoh closed his eyes and allowed himself to be calm as he let the hot air soothe him.

**xxxxx**

"Now," Yugi exclaimed as he gave Yami a few unopened booster packs and a plastic bolster pack containing special edition booster packs, "I'm going to be busy for the next hour, maybe more. When I'm finished, it'll be bedtime for you, so you have that much time to play with your deck."

Yami looked at Yugi's little clock on the nightstand. It was only half six in the evening. "But..."

"I know, I know, but Yami, you need good rest, and we've done a lot today. I can't have you getting sick."

Yami looked at his collection of booster packs. "These look amazing."

"Yup! They sure do! Well, you stay here. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen so I can concentrate. It's algebra. Luckily for you, you'll never have to know how painful algebra is."

"Aibou, I don't like you being away from me."

This was a first. Yugi looked at him, wondering if he had heard right. Maybe, with Yami getting better, he was starting to go back to his old, protective ways? Maybe. "I'm doing homework, Yami and I'll only be downstairs!"

"Do it in here!"

"I can't!" Yugi said, shaking his head but smiling all the while. "If I did that I'd never get anything done! And there's no desk to work on in Grampa's room or the bathroom or storage room! 'Sides, I'll only be downstairs for an hour!"

"I don't like it." He was actually growling out the words. Yugi wasn't sure if he liked Yami's protective side coming back. Or did he? It might become a nuisance if it grew, but at the same time Yugi was fond of Yami's attention. It was kind of like owning an Alsatian.

"No one's coming to get me. This isn't like before with Malik coming to kill us, or Evil Bakura wanting our heads. That's all over now."

Yami crossed his arms. "An hour." He said.

Yugi nodded. "Enjoy your cards. We're due to duel asap, and I am not losing!"

"Likewise!"

Yugi went out to begin his studies. Yami sat looking at his virgin booster packs, liking the glossy packaging and feel of the cards inside.

Time ticked on. Yami was busy opening his single booster packs; immensely pleased at some of what he got. He got a 'Prevent Rat,' a 'Dark Core' spell card, 'Neo the Magic Swordsman' and 'Thunder of Ruler' among just a few. Then he turned to the bolster pack. It was one of those plastic things that was a pain to open. Yami searched for something to open it with, shuffling along the bedroom floor from place to place. There was no way he could open it with just his nails. He opened some of Yugi's drawers in the hopes of finding something. Finally, in the top drawer of Yugi's computer desk was a pair of scissors. Perfect.

Yami took the scissors back with him and shuffled backwards with his bum on the floor. When he reached his pile of goodies, he put the scissors to the bolster pack experimentally. The scissors had dull blades, and the plastic was extremely thick. Also, he didn't want to damage the contents within. Pressing too hard, and too forcefully, the scissors went straight through the top of the bolster pack and into his hand. Blood marked the carpet at the same time he dropped the scissors.

He clutched his hand, not quite sure he had felt pain quite like this. Blood poured like water down his arm and he was instantly governed by shock and fear. The pain made him feel bright with life, but it also made him feel awful. He began to cry out from all these things until he went numb from reality. All he focused on was the red. Lots and lots of red.

Yugi came to the doorway: attracted by the screams of his partner. When he saw the blood, his eyes were filled with swirling, confused horror. He plunged to a stop on numb sticks for legs, his foggy brain half paralyzed with unquenchable fear while he tried to comprehend everything at the same time. Then he charged forwards and dragged Yami to his feet; no matter how much his darker half staggered. He pulled him to the bathroom sink next door without argument and thrust his bleeding hand under the tap. Yugi turned the cold water faucet on; icy water splashed and ran angrily over Yami's shaky hand.

There was too much blood and Yugi could not see where Yami had cut himself. There was just blood, water, and more drooling blood.

Quickly grabbing a towel behind him from the rack, Yugi pulled him from the sink and wrapped the bloody hand in it. Yami sunk to the floor, dizzy from all that was going on than from pain. Yugi knelt beside him and wrapped the towel tightly around his hand. "Hold it, Yami, no – listen!" He said when his darker half shook his head and was about to rise to get up again. "Hold it tight! I'm going to grab the medi-kit! Stay right here, hold it and raise your arm up!"

He let go of Yami and headed desperately into the kitchen. He opened the medicine cabinet and in his haste to find what he needed, half of the medicine, gauze and plasters came spilling out, hitting the floor in a splurge of items and bottles. Yugi dived downwards and grabbed gauze, a box of safety pins and a roll of sticky plaster. He rushed back to find his counterpart staring down at the towel that was concealing his cut hand as if he was hiding something nightmarish. His face was alabaster white. Yugi wasn't surprised. His pharaoh had never seen blood since he had been in his real body, let alone his own blood.

Yugi knelt down beside him and put down the supplies. "Yami, it's okay. Here, I brought bandages that will help. It's all right. Let me see your hand."

Yami looked at him with a worried frown and he asked most sternly without taking his eyes off the towel; "Aibou, will I die?"

Yugi laughed gently and cupped Yami's face with one hand. "No, goodness no! You've cut yourself, and I need to patch you up so that your hand can repair itself. It'll take time, yeah, and you might need stitches, but in the meantime you'll be fine. I'll give you something for the pain later, but first let me see your hand, mou hitori no boku."

Hissing with hurt, Yami unwrapped it gently and revealed the cut. The hand had dried a little and it was clear where he had cut himself. A long, parallel slash ran across his palm where more blood swelled up and began to run down his wrist. Yugi began to cover the wound with gauze, telling Yami to hold it down with his other hand before Yugi pinned the gauze in place. Just to be sure, Yugi wrapped it in another layer until Yami's hand was thoroughly cocooned.

At last, job done, Yugi sat back, pleased. "There, Yami. Now follow me. I'll get you some painkilling liquid medicine. I doubt you'll be able to swallow pills."

Yami got to his feet, wobbled a tad, and then straightened and followed his charge.

Yugi got a bottle out of the already-open medicine cabinet and poured an ample measure into a measuring cup. "Drink." He instructed. The liquid he had poured was a sickly looking orange that smelled as artificial as it looked.

Yami sneered at the concoction before doing a little wobbling act to keep himself balanced.

Yugi sighed and grabbed a stool. "Sit on this. The last thing I want you doing is fainting and hitting your head."

Yami did so, medicine cup in hand. After giving the medicine a baleful look, he leaned forwards and tasted it. At once he drew it away, coughing and making incredible faces. "Aibou!" He choked, "How could things in your world taste so... so outrageously foul? I... I can't drink this!"

Yugi rolled his eyes, came forwards, picked the cup up and pinched the back of Yami's neck quite hard. When Yami spat out a curse that sounded suspiciously Egyptian, Yugi tipped the cup into his mouth.

While his darker half sat, spluttering and cursing on the stool, Yugi went back into the lounge to recover the scissors and booster packs, thinking all the while that it was still too soon to leave Yami on his own. The blood on the carpet: Grampa's cream carpet was not a pretty sight. Yugi scratched at his head. "Better get a soapy bucket and sponge before that stuff sinks in or Grampa is going to kill me."

**xxxxx**

"Where's grandfather?" Yami asked some time later. The clock had just chimed eight o'clock at night.

"He's out, buying things. The shop's closed and well, it is Friday night. So I get to spend all weekend with you! He'll be back soon. I doubt he'll be gone any later, but he does love drinking with his old friends."

They were rehashing their old decks, playing a few matches, and then rebuilding. Yami sure did love duel monsters, Yugi found. Obsessively so. Yugi had opened all the last few booster packs for him, so there was no danger of him getting himself into trouble. The blood hadn't seeped through to the outer layers of gauze either, which was a relief. The last thing he wanted to do was take him to A&E on Friday night and frighten him all the more.

"Hey, err, mou hitori no boku? Can you still do that 'eye' thing?"

"Eye thing?" He asked, while he was shuffling his deck for the sixth time.

"Yeah. You used to be able to emit this golden eye from your forehead when you were upset or mad. Even when we were intertwined I could still feel you emit so much power and project this eye."

"Ah, yes. Well, to be honest with you, aibou, you were right before about me losing my powers and I gave it much thought over the days. Maybe it's because I am real and a real body cannot project such black magic." He lifted his slender shoulders in a shy shrug.

Yugi pouted. No powers at all then, just as he had suspected. So how did he leave the puzzle, and why was he diabetic like he was? Had he used some of Yugi's DNA? He shook his head. Did it really matter? What was done was done. He would need to worry instead about teaching Yami the woes of reading and writing Japanese, buying him his own mobile phone (God that was going to be fun), and getting him to regulate his own blood sugar levels AND teaching him the lay of Domino City. Yami knew much of it already – he had after all seen a lot of it when he had been a spirit, but taking him outside was still a long way off.

"Well," Yugi stood up, "I had better check the laundry. It's probably dry by now." He paused. "Urm, should I really leave you on your own?"

Yami waved his bandaged hand at him. "I'm shuffling one handed and checking my cards. I'll be fine!"

Yugi smiled at him, but it was a mistrustful well-if-you-say-so smile.

Just as his little protégé was about to leave the room, Yami meekly called after him in a strangely hoarse voice. "Aibou?"

"Yeah?"

"Can... can I go outside soon?"

"Urm, we'll see."

When Yugi had left, Yami staggered weakly over to the bedroom window. It was dark outside, ghostly so, but the street lamps projected enough light to reveal the sides of brick housing, and the snaking asphalt roads as they led to destinations unknown. There was a huge world out there to explore, smell, feel and listen to. Yami pressed his good hand against the cool glass and watched a car pass by. Red and yellow lights preceded it as it growled along like a creature with its own mind.

How cold was it out there? Was there a breeze?

Feeling tired and dizzy, he sat back down in his usual place and continued assessing his deck.

Then he looked up and saw the door across the room: the door that he and Yugi went through to enter the room. It stood there oppressively like something incarnate. Yami wasn't sure that opening it again would unlock the rest of the house to him; rather, it would release him back to his old tomb where stairs relentlessly charged up walls, of where doors led him to an infinity of madness, and where darkness menaced him eternally.

**xxxxx**

A little later Yugi came back into the bedroom and put a clean pile of washed clothes down on the little wooden chair. He looked up, expecting to see Yami studying his deck or at least reshuffling again, again. But when he came back in his darker half was just sitting with his back to the chest of drawers with a vacant, dead-like look on his face. Yugi frowned and walked over to him. "Yami, what's up? Too tired to duel anymore?" That was when he heard him breathing. It was a low rasp of a sound, and quite like what he used to sound like when they first had him in their presence.

At his name being called, Yami gradually looked up at Yugi. His golden bangs seemed to droop closer to his face than usual. "Is the room spinning?"

Yugi dropped to his knees and took Yami's immeasurably cold hand in his. The bandaged hand was secured warmly in Yami's lap. "What's wrong, Yami? What else do you feel? You have to tell me!"

Yami's gaze slowly resolved upward to the ceiling. "Cold. I'm very cold." Was all he whispered.

"Yami, listen to me. I want you to get up and get into bed. I'll help you!"

"I'll just sit here for a bit, Aibou." Was his say on the matter, waving bleakly at his charge with a gauzed hand.

Yugi got angry and distressed all at once. He got up slightly to lever himself under Yami's right arm. He went to lift him, but Yami all but slumped against him. He wasn't even trying.

Yugi leaned back as Yami continued to stare incomprehensively at the ceiling. The Pharaoh's small chest was shakily heaving as his breaths came out fast and laboriously. He seemed okay just a few minutes ago. Yugi tried to quickly think back. How long had he left Yami alone? Six minutes? Ten minutes? No, it couldn't have been any longer than ten. But either way, while he had been gone, Yami had fallen to the same symptoms he had shown after his first rebirth from the puzzle. Why? Why oh why? Maybe the cut in his hand truly had knocked him back for six, and it was sort of like a delayed reaction? It happened. Still, this wasn't good.

Yugi grabbed the main phone downstairs. It was no use calling his grampa. It would take him a while to get back and he didn't exactly want to panic him. He dialled Jonouchi's number instead and heard it dial out. It was well past eight in the evening now. Joey was probably fuming over his arduous homework or watching the soccer match with his old man. The dials drolled on and Yugi could imagine his counterpart all alone and staring insensibly at the ceiling. When there was no answer and the dialling flipped to voice mail, Yugi pressed Joey's home number again. Perhaps it was wrong of Yugi to just lean on Joey the whole time when really he should have been focusing on making his own decisions, but right now he was going to go with what he knew.

Joey picked up on the other line at last. "Urm, 'ullo?"

"Hey, Joey, it's me, Yugi. Can you please come over? Yami is acting really strange again. I think he's unwell."

"Like the last time? When he was... oh no matter, I'm coming."

Yugi put the phone down and raced back up to his partner. As per usual Yami had not moved. He remained sitting by the bed looking paler. His eyes were focused purely on his upturned hands now as there was something of value there. Yugi calmly put his hands down and gently hugged his emaciated form. "You should really get on the bed. Darn you, Yami! I'd lift you myself but I'd rather wait until Jonouchi gets here first in case anything happens."

"But it is not yet nighttime, Aibou. Just give me a moment so that I may rest here for a time."

Maybe it was good just to keep him talking. Once Joey arrived, Yugi would fetch the former Pharaoh a hot drink.

"Well, aren't you tired?"

"I suppose. Just give me a moment, Aibou, honest. Maybe it is because I just spent too much e-energy."

"I'm not sure. Are you in any pain?"

"No." But he looked away when he said it.

"Can you stand for me?"

But Yami rejected his instructions just like he did the last time. "No, no. I am quite fine sitting here, if you p-please."

Time went by, and to keep himself occupied, he gave Yami hugs and asked him simple questions either about duel monsters or what he had done during the day, however, the pharaoh grew less responsive and more prone to shivering. Since Joey had the keys this time (a spare set Yugi had given him in case of emergencies such as these), he let himself in and charged up the stairs like a bull loose from its cage. Once he walked into the bedroom and saw Yugi hugging his partner, Joey wasted no time. Yugi saw him, and moved away to give his friend the space he needed.

Joey approached the little wheezy Pharaoh very gently and calmly and sat opposite him. "Yami," he said in a casual what-the-hell tone, "How ya doin' there?"

"Jonouchi?" Yami rubbed his eyes thoroughly as if he was seeing double for some reason or he was just too fatigued to focus.

"You wanna stand up for me? Yugi rang me up and said you weren't acting quite right."

"I don't know what you mean..."

"Look, here's the plan. I'm gonna lift ya and put you on the bed, okay?" Yami continued to lean against the dresser drawers, rubbing his eyes, even with his bad hand. Joey wasn't waiting for a response anyway. Like a mother he slid both arms under Yami's armpits and he stood up, taking the little Pharaoh with him. Then he scooped him into his arms. "Easy, big guy." He whispered, for Yami inevitably tensed, before letting out a small, painful moan. Yugi watched as though from the sidelines. Tears were streaming down his eyes. Something was wrong. Why else would his counterpart cry out like that?

Being so tender, careful and slow, Joey stepped over to the bed and he began to lower Yami down onto it. "Okay, down we go," he said to him. Yami sagged onto the mattress and he began to curl up as though in distress. Joey covered his shaky torso in his blankets.

"Jonouchi..." Yami managed to squeeze out. His voice was shrill and tiny.

Joey nodded and grimly smiled. He reached out with one hand and stroked his face and golden hair bangs. "Yeah. It's me, bud. It's me. Just relax and lay back, kay? That's it. You're doing great."

Yugi tried to wipe his tears away when Jonouchi turned round to regard him. Yami's attack somehow seemed worse and more intense than the first one, if that was even possible.

"Yugi," Joey whispered, "what has he eaten in the last twenty-four hours?"

Yugi fought to get himself under control. It was no use bursting into tears now. But Joey gave him all the time he needed. He didn't rush him or frown impatiently. His face was dissonantly tranquil in fact, but that was only because he was keeping a tight lid on his emotions. He had to be the leader now, and he only wanted to get Yugi and Yami out of this mess.

"Urm... Yami had rice krispies this morning, and then he had a couple of pancakes, as I did. For lunch we had toast and an egg. He's had egg before. I cooked it all really well."

"Urm, he's diabetic, right, same as you are? Did you give him his insulin or whatever, Yugi?"

"Yes, but it can't be his diabetes. We both had our injections after lunch, we try to do everything in sync, and so if it was that, I'd be suffering too, right? His sugar levels couldn't have gone down that fast – the insulin is supposed to last all day!"

"Are ya sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" He hadn't meant to shout that last part. It just burst out of him like a tumultuous roar of thunder. He gave Joey an apologetic look. "But he cut his hand a little under half an hour ago by accident and before that I gave him his first bath. I think he's been through too much in one day."

"How the flying fuck did he cut himself, Yugi? Isn't his mental and physical experience like that of a baby's? Okay, forget the mental aspect; he's too far ahead of himself as far as I'm concerned and heck, it was so like him to try walking before his body could, huh? But did you leave him alone? Ya shouldn't really do that to him, buddy..."

Yugi knew that Joey was trying to solve this quickly and gently without upsetting anyone, after all, Yugi knew he was in the wrong anyway. "He was opening booster packs and no I didn't give him scissors! He found them, okay? I was doing my homework, I didn't mean..." Tears were burning the cusps of his eyes.

Joey felt and understood Yugi's burning anguish. He turned back to Yami and massaged his side through the blankets gently in case of bruising something. His duelling partner was wheezing like before. His eyes were closed and his bandaged hand was resting against his chin. Was it shock and tiredness all rolled into one?

Joey swallowed hard. "Man, we really gotta get a doctor to have a proper look at him! I mean, well, I know I ain't the smartest guy on the block but... I have a theory."

"Go on." Yugi encouraged as he regained a little of his self-control.

"Well, say that, when Yami got his new body, it was imperfect? Like for example something hadn't quite formed right inside of him?"

Yugi looked away and his crown of gold bangs made shadows fall across his eyes. "I had already come to the conclusion before. I was too scared to acknowledge it..."

Joey was losing his calm exterior. "Look, if you ain't gonna call for a doctor, then I will, 'cause we can't leave him like this!"

Yugi's hands balled into fists. It was no use backing down from a crisis and crying all the time. He had to be strong. "I'll call a doctor." He said, "And you check his body over for injuries. Maybe he hurt himself earlier while I wasn't looking."

"Good thinking Yuug. See, I knew you could handle this!"

Yugi nodded, but he felt cold and empty inside. It was the most horrible feeling. Had he done this to Yami by not properly supervising him?

While he rushed off to use the phone, Joey turned back to the duellist king. Joey placed a hand on Yami's bony shoulder and squeezed. "Easy, pal, easy. I don't want you gettin' scared now, okay? And while I'm here, I need to quickly check you over for wounds. I promise I'll be gentle." It was a shame really, to move back the covers and reduce the pharaoh's body warmth, but if he had a fatal wound, it had to be found quickly.

Being as gentle and as professional as could be (which was quite a switch for Joey), he lifted up Yami's blue shirt top and vest underneath. Even with the aid of Yugi's bright room lights, there seemed to be no signs of bruising or anything suspicious. But looking alone was not enough.

Swallowing hard, Joey reached forward with the other hand and gingerly felt along the Pharaoh's awfully gaunt ribcage and flaccid stomach. Yami's heart was labouring terribly fast – Joey could feel it pounding like a hammer wherever he touched him.

Carefully he turned him over and massaged his back and bony pelvis for anything broken or misshapen. Apart from Yami being very hot and gangly, there seemed nothing amiss. But there had to be something. Joey peeled the blankets even further down to access his spindly legs and feet. Yami tried to turn to set narrowed amethyst eyes at him. "J-Jonouchi... quit touching m-me... I did not g-give you p-p-permission..."

"I know, but we gotta find out what is ailing you. This won't take long and I am being real gentle, so stop complaining. You may be good at duel monsters, but you don't seem very good in the whole 'trust' department."

Yami seemed too distraught to struggle, but as Joey explored him further, nothing availed itself. There was no broken bones, no sign of infection or fresh injuries. It was like he was just suffering a sudden, acute onset of fever without the febrile heat. However, just when Joey replaced all the blankets to keep him warm, Yami's breathing suddenly got more uneven. Now, Joey knew nothing at all on first aid. You could have said a nine year old would have known more, and in all his PHSE exams where an understanding of medicine was required Joey had come away with a big black F. But in that moment everything came into place and he knew what to do. It was as if he had the information in him all along.

Using his left arm he used it to prop Yami up, and while he was doing this, he began to unbutton Yami's collar and the zips, other buttons, buckles and god knew what else on his little jacket and shirt to help his little chest move as he breathed. Joey's calm facade was shattering quickly however like a castle of glass falling down all around him. Why was Yami like this? Was he somehow allergic to something? Was it his sporadic blood sugar levels? Had he eaten a poison berry while Yugi had left him? Had he sipped down on some bleach thinking it to be juice?

"Yami, hey, keep awake bud." For he had just noticed through his wave of horror and dread that Yami was beginning to close eyes that were no longer gossamer and brilliant. They were becoming dull and opaque. Even his body – inert before, was now starting to spasmodically shake and shiver.

Screw the doctor. Joey thought. I think we need a fucking ambulance.

He tapped the former pharaoh three times on the cheek and once on the nose. Yami opened his eyes. His breathing was becoming so hard that he had to open his mouth wide, but even his pensive gasps seemed to do little to alleviate his lungs.

"Yami, hey, hey come on, look at me pal! Come on, please." His little taps to his face were doing little now as the Pharaoh's eyes kept drawing shut. "Yami, stay with me! Please tell me what is hurting you! Yami? Hey? Stay with me you fucking idiot! Snap out of it!"

Yami came-to most suddenly, and his dull eyes blinked upwards at his friend as if he had noticed him for the first time.

"That's much better." Joey said with a nervous smile. He sat Yami up a little more and propped the pillows behind him. His terrible shaking was slowly easing, but slowly. "Jesus, you scare the fucking crap outta me!"

Yami rubbed at his eyes. His breathing was slackening back down into a semi-normal speed as if he was relaxing after a long run. But Joey was still not happy. "I'm f-fine..." He croaked after some time. "Really. I am p-p-pretty tired t-t-though, and I am pretty sure I have a h-headache..."

"Anything else hurtin', Yami?"

"Not t-that I am aware o-of, J-Jonouchi."

Joey leaned down and hugged him tight. He couldn't really explain why at the time, but seeing his old duelling partner lying so confused, shaky and sick just got to him. And Yami was still so bone-thin. It wasn't right.

After long last cuddle, Joey released him when he heard Yugi rush back into the room. "I've called a doctor," he gasped, clearly out of breath in his panic, "but he won't make it until later, tomorrow morning at the very latest."

"Jesus! Why so long?" Doctors always were slow and they rarely came out to people in Japan. Usually if it was that much of an emergency, you were supposed to send yourself to the hospital. That's what usually happened when the country's population was sky-high.

Yugi ignored the question and came to Yami. The Egyptian was looking feebly up at the ceiling as if he was watching a fly up there. Yugi leaned down and kissed him. "Yami, I'm here. What's wrong? Please help me. Y-You were fine a few minutes ago!"

His darker half looked down at him. "Don't k-know Aibou. It just came on s-s-suddenly. I'm j-just tired now. Let m-m-me sleep?" His words were short, his febrile shakes coming and going quite suddenly as if he had caught a chill.

Yugi glanced questionably up at Joey who looked as nonplussed and as upset as he did. Yugi turned back to his partner and stroked his cheek. "Yeah. Go to sleep, Yami. It might make you feel better."

"Should we really let him sleep?" Joey asked a tad fearfully.

Yugi sighed sadly. "I'm not so sure, but we have time now to go on the internet and look up his symptoms. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Should we? Without waitin' for the advice of a professional first?"

Yami had closed his eyes by now, and his breathing was slowing. His chest rose and fell more steadily – and deeply too. Yugi swathed him in blankets. "I guess. What else can we do? Shall we... shall we leave him propped up like that?"

"It'll do his lungs some good, I think."

Yugi went over to his desk where a laptop sat waiting. Its lid was covered in junk like duelling cards, little figurines and DVDS. Once he had shoved them to one side, he lifted the lid and pressed the ON button. As he waited for it to 'power up' he gave Yami a quick look. He was sleeping soundly. His breathing was good, and he didn't quite look so deathly pallid but his body was still shaking away as he trembled. Was it shock from the day's events? He had done a lot all in one day. Or had he reacted to the medicine Yugi had made him drink? Oh what was it?

Now Yugi was getting a headache.

* * *

**Dib07:** If you want this updated let me know ^^

There is so much to find out. What will the doctor say when he'll arrive at the Game Shop?

And what 'exactly' is troubling Yami? It's a legitimate condition so you can have a go at guessing what it is, but I'll say right here and right now that Yami isn't being 100% honest with how he is feeling, so it won't be easy.

see ya! ;)


	6. Questions

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

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**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

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**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

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**Notes:**

**A/N:** Hi everyone, another update due to some of you asking for an upload! Glad you are enjoying it!

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 6: Questions  
**

**xxxxxx**

Joey stared; rapt at the screen. The only sounds were the few soft clicks and the movement of the mouse of his finger as he scrolled down the page he was on. Yugi looked intensely at the glowing page beside him. Both of them were so engrossed that none of them had chosen to sit at the computer chair. They both stood beside it instead.

"Have you been giving him alcohol to drink?" Joey asked rather blankly, not turning away from the screen as he said this.

"What? Are you crazy? You're making me feel like a bad parent!"

"And his hand?"

"I told you about his hand, Jonouchi! He cut it accidently while trying to open a duel monsters booster pack. That was my fault, and I admit that, but it couldn't have caused such an intense reaction afterwards, could it?"

Joey did some more mouse-clicking and scrolling, doing a few quick Google searches too and typing in Yami's recent symptoms. At last he said, "According to Medline he might have... pneumonia. It's the closest thing I can find to what he is displaying." Joey shook his head. "Oh, I don't know. This is what comes of researching symptoms yourself."

"Pneumonia? What's that?"

Joey read it out to him in a dull, monotone voice. "The symptoms were pretty straightforward and basic. A sufferer of pneumonia coughs frequently - with the coughs occasionally getting worse. Then there are symptoms that develop suddenly or may come on over several days."

"Go on."

"According to this," he said, rubbing his chin, "the symptoms include difficulty breathing even when resting, a rapid heartbeat, loss of appetite, yeah, I guess he has those, sweating and or shivering it says here, fatigue, wheezing, feeling confused and headaches." Joey stood back a little, one hand on the backrest of the desk chair. "Sounds about right for him, doesn't it?"

"I'm... I'm scared Jonouchi..."

Joey took his shoulders in his hands, and then decided that a more supportive approach was called for and took Yugi into a rough hug instead. "It's gonna be okay. Pneumonia is treatable, and hey, he might not even have it. He might be in massive shock after the whole 'cutting his hand' incident. We don't know how emotionally stable he is, right?"

"Right."

"Right! I bet after he's had some rest he'll be much, much better!"

"Grampa's gonna be so worried..."

"Yeah, well, Yami'll get better. How long has he been in that body now? Five days?"

"A week and six hours."

Joey smiled. "And it's your birthday next weekend! You have lots of things to look forward to!" He paused for thought, then added almost in a coarse whisper; "Does he still wet the bed?"

Yugi shook his head. "He only did that on the first few nights, not that I minded at all. And he has this peculiar thing where he'll just nod off even when he's in the middle of something. He fell asleep next to his bowl of cheerio's once, but I think babies do that too, because even his brain is new, right? He just gets me so worried."

"Ha, me too!" Joey ruffled his little friend's hair. "Look, I know this is gonna suck, but I really can't stay long. I will come back, but I am badly behind on Mr. Robin's homework."

Yugi walked over to his college bag and took out a manuscript of papers. "Here, take mine."

"Really? That's awful nice of ya..."

"Yeah, well you've been good to me and Yami. I guess I'll just keep him sleeping, and make him drinks and soft, warm foods. I daren't give him medicine in case he reacts badly to what's in the medicine."

"Hey, has he ever been outside yet?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Just wondered. I'd love to play baseball with him, or soccer. I think he'd be really good at it."

"Yeah!" Yugi put on his best plastic smile.

xxx

When Joey was gone, and the house was dark and quiet, Yugi snuggled right in beside Yami in bed and encircled his arms around a lean, bony body. Yami mumbled something in his dreams. It sounded very much like: "Watashi no ban desu." Yugi smiled despite his worry. The Japanese dialect was really rubbing off on his darker half. Not that he spoke much Egyptian anyway. He usually just cursed in that tongue, which he found quite funny.

Yugi embraced Yami tightly; face snuggled against his shoulder, one hand resting on his thumping heart as if to verify Yami's existence. Then, after a while, he sunk into troubled, anxious dreams.

xxx

Before the doctor arrived, Yugi ended up scaring himself more.

It was a bright, sunny morning, but the forecast on the radio predicted rain. Solomon was seeing customers in his shop downstairs, and Yami was busy in the bathroom – the bathroom being the only place Yugi allowed him privacy after last night's episode – but if Yugi wasn't allowed to leave him alone, how was Yami going to cope when Yugi went back to college? He couldn't just bring him with him like some kind of lost child.

Now Yugi was on the internet again, wanting to search for Yami's possible condition himself before the doctor arrived. It was a silly endeavour really, but Yugi had been plagued with troubled dreams as worry chased him as he slept. So as soon as Yami was in the bathroom, he went back on his computer and anxiously waited for it to start up. When it had, he was faced with the Google screen. He knew he'd only trouble himself more, but he just couldn't see through this temptation.

On the main search page he typed in: Symptoms shaking, shortness of breath.

Google came back with a column of main listings. He hit the top heading of a website called WebMDsymptomchecker.

Below the main title was a summary that made him feel a lot worse than when he had started. It went:

_'There are 72 conditions associated with shaking hands or tremor and shortness of breath. The links below will provide you with more detailed information on these medical conditions from the WebMD Symptom Checker and help provide a better understanding of causes and treatment of these related conditions.'_

And below it was indeed a list of 72 things that followed up on these two striking symptoms. There was Generalized Anxiety Disorder where the sufferer was in nearly constant anxiety. Another was Atrial Flutter – which was an abnormality of the heart's rhythm. Another was allergy called Anaphylaxis: a whole body reaction to an allergy.

Then there was Acute Stress Reaction: symptoms included shortness of breath, anxiety, nervousness, a sense of doom, etc. As Yugi scrolled down, feeling impending doom himself, there was Heart Rhythm Disorder: which caused fluttering heartbeats in the chest which included shortness of breath, chest pain or dizziness. Included in this horror show of symptoms was Panic Attack, Insulin Reaction, Anaemia, Aortic Stenosis, Aortic Regurgitation, Anaphylactic Shock, Thyroid complications, Atrial Fibrillation...

Yugi hit the 'x' in the corner of the screen and closed it to reveal his desktop. He sat back, breathing heavily, his heart in his throat. "Stop panicking." He told himself. "The doctor isn't even here yet. Yami may be suffering none of those things at all." But what if he was? Joey's words floated in his head.

'I have a theory, Yuug. Say that, when Yami got his new body, it was imperfect? Like for example something hadn't quite formed right inside of him?'

And most of those symptoms related to the heart.

Yugi wanted to heave into the toilet, but Yami was in the bathroom. He stood up, switched off the computer and opened his bedroom window. The cool, warm air helped relieve the nausea but his legs felt weak.

Yami came back into the room dressed in Yugi's old clothes. He wore a pick shirt complete with purple cord trousers and a purple close fitting jacket. "Aibou?" He said, "When can I..." Yugi turned to him and his original agenda changed completely. "Holy Ra, Aibou, you look ill! Are you all right?" His Japanese was so smooth, so faultless that Yugi couldn't help but smile.

"I'm fine, mou hitori no boku. Really, I am." He added when Yami looked anything but convinced.

"I've known you long enough, Aibou. You're lying to me. Why? You've never kept anything from me before."

"It's just that... I'm worried about you, and I hope you won't be mad at me when I tell you this but I've called a doctor out for you. You may not have heard us discuss it yesterday because you were so out of it, but he'll be arriving shortly."

"A doctor?" Yami's eyes narrowed, "A healing doctor? Like a priest?"

Yugi shrugged. "Kinda. He'll look you over and he'll maybe give you medicine."

"Ah." Yami relaxed and took Yugi's hand in his. "If you requested it, I must abide by it. I do not want to worry you."

Yugi nodded, glad at how well Yami was taking this.

And then the doctor came, and Yami was no longer quite as cooperate.

Solomon answered the door for him. The doctor was a mild, tall man with blonde hair. He wore a dark coat and pants, and carried the usual doctor's bag with him. He was very open when he was welcomed by Solomon, and they shook hands. "He's right upstairs." Solomon said. "Can I get you anything? Juice, tea? Coffee?"

"Oh, I'm alright, thank you. What's the patient's name again?" He asked as Solomon removed his coat for him.

"Yami Atem. He's Egyptian. His room is the first one on the left at the top of the stairs."

The doctor walked upstairs and opened the door on the room Solomon had instructed him to. It was the younger grandson who greeted him first. "Hello, I'm Yugi." He said. "And this here is Yami." He gestured behind him at the former pharaoh who sat on the edge of their bed and doing his best to smile a welcome, but it looked more like a grimace.

The doctor put down his bag and opened out a hand. Yami stood up and shook it. "The name's Dr. Markus. Sorry I couldn't get here any sooner. This week's been very busy for me. If you'd sit down for me, I'd like to begin."

Yami sat on a chair Yugi got out for him and Dr. Markus opened his bag. Yami tried to peer into it to judge the contents within. He was frowning. "Where are all your health potions?" He asked eventually. "And the herbs?"

Dr. Markus looked at him oddly. Yugi rolled his eyes. "He's a modern doctor, Yami. They don't use that old stuff anymore."

"Oh?"

Dr. Markus asked Yami to remove his jacket, which he did, grudgingly. "So, how are you feeling, Mr. Atem?"

Yami gave Yugi a warning glare as if to say; 'what in Ra's name did you tell this guy?'

"All right." He said, his words guarded. Yugi looked most upset at this. That wasn't true at all!

"And have you being faint lately, dizzy? Tired?" The doctor asked. As he spoke, he got out a long snake of a thing from his bag. It was the stethoscope. Yami eyed it as if it was a lethal eel.

"Yes, I suppose. I like to rest."

Could you be any more vague, Yami of mine? Yugi thought somewhat angrily. He's here to help you!

"And do you experience difficulty breathing?"

"Y-Yes..." Yami looked uncomfortable. His bright, amethyst eyes looked down at the carpet.

"Is it worse after exercise? Or when you lie flat?"

Yami shrugged, his eyes still averted. "It comes on suddenly... I am unsure." His whole expression was one of aversion. He didn't even like looking at the doctor.

Dr. Markus nodded. "Can you undo the buttons of your shirt for me, please?"

"His shallow, fast breathing usually lasts a good half an hour or more once this attack hits him." Yugi explained for him, sensing Yami's obvious distress. It was after all the first stranger he had seen since emerging from the puzzle, so no wonder he was nervous and disgruntled. It was even cute how Yami reacted so hostilely to someone who clearly only had his best interests in mind. At least he was cooperating enough to undo his buttons. "Also, he trembles. He's better now, but you should have seen him yesterday. It was like he had suddenly got cold, whereas before he was fine, and it was like he couldn't move either. He didn't want to get up to move onto the bed."

"Right." Said the doctor. He put the listening pieces of the stethoscope into his ear and raised the listening disk. "I'm going to listen to your chest now. It won't take long."

Yami burst with Egyptian profanities the like of which Yugi had never heard. He scuttled off the chair and ran out the room like a nimble gazelle. The doctor peered at the chair, the disk of the instrument still held in mid-air and ready to administer. Yugi groaned and out a hand to his head.

"Just great." He sighed, before bowing profusely in apology. "He's scared of doctors, it seems. I'm ever so sorry."

The doctor merely smiled and rested the stethoscope around his shoulders. "It's no problem. I've had worse. So, how long has he had these symptoms?"

That question was inferior and Yugi knew it. "About a week." Which was about how long Yami had had his body for.

"And may I ask how old he is?"

"Oh, about twentyish I think."

"Well, he certainly doesn't look it. He looks more like fifteen! And he can run too. If there was anything serious with him, I doubt he could have got away so quickly. I won't charge a call-out fee, though I really would like to examine him. Does he have chest pain at all? Bad indigestion? Sweating? Palpitations? Coughing?"

"I... I don't think so."

"Ah good. So long as he doesn't have though symptoms I'd say your friend may just be suffering mild chest flu. I think you should help him overcome this little fear of doctors because I would really like to come and see him again very soon. How about next week some time? And if he has another episode sooner than that, call me." He gave Yugi a card. "And I'll come straight away, you have my word."

Yugi couldn't believe his luck. He nodded. "Thank you, doctor. What do I do though, if he starts suffering again?"

"Get him into bed, raise his legs and open a window, and of course, call me. It is strange though, that he recovers like you say so quickly. Fevers come and go, as do colds. He looks remarkably thin, and that might be the reason. So if anything, he may be suffering severe anaemia." He groped into his bag for a moment and brought out a bottle of iron tablets. "Free of charge." He said. "Now, I better go. See you in a week then."

Yugi was a little relieved, and also a little angry at Yami. Once the doctor had left, he found his other half sitting with Solomon behind the game's counter as customers browsed or made purchases. Yugi stomped on over, but found it hard to stay mad at him. It was clear that Yami was still nervous by the way he twiddled his thumbs and the worried flicker of his eyes.

"Yami," he sighed, "what were you thinking?"

Solomon was too busy handling a transaction to overhear them. He obviously assumed that all had gone well.

"Forgive me, Aibou." He murmured in sheepish reply. "I wasn't thinking, but he looked at me funny."

Then Yugi did the last thing Yami expected him to do. His younger protégé came and embraced him fiercely.

"Can't you realize how important you are to me?" Yugi whispered into his ear. "I called the doctor to see if you were okay, and you disregarded me the moment you ran from him! What am I to do with you?"

"Gomen." His words were genuine. "I didn't think. He had all these strange tools, and he was about to touch me with them. I couldn't read his movements."

"Next time, you must promise me that you won't run away again!"

"I... I promise." The former pharaoh agreed, reluctantly.

Yugi was still scared. He had the feeling that Yami wasn't telling him everything, as if he was hiding something. But why would he? Yami had always been honest with him, especially after the Orichalcos event – the guilt had run deep in his darker half so much so that he seemed prepared to spent the rest of his spirit life making up for it. So why then did Yugi have the impression that somewhere between the lines, Yami was being evasive even to him?

xxx

Yugi lay awake in bed with his dear darker half a lot later with his bedside clock reading eleven thirty five. Yami was snuggled against him, and had fallen fast asleep some time ago. His breathing was deep and soft, his eyelids twitching as he dreamed. Yugi held his warm, bandaged hand close to him, his eyes slowly closing.

There was a black fire sweeping up the hallway, with a red fire directly opposite it. Broken glass shimmered on the table, its razor sharp edges coated in scarlet. The millennium puzzle bounced once on the floor, then scattered into a hundred gold pieces.

Though Yugi could not see his eyes, Yami came to him from the darkness, smiling laconically. He silently put a finger to his sealed lips. And grinned.


	7. The Party

**Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Damaged Goods**

**By Dib07**

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**Summary:**

**Yugi and Yami have found ways to separate both their hearts and bodies in some strange magic that not even the Pharaoh can fathom. Now with his own body he can learn what Yugi takes for granted, and become his true self. However, Yami's family and friends soon learn that not everything was formed so simply.**

**- Pairings: Yami/Yugi MAYBE?**  
**- Setting: Post series**  
**- Story Type: A full-series – Family/Hurt/Comfort**  
**- Rating: T - (M)? - due to later blood/angst ;)  
**

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**A/N: Please read this new novel at your leisure - I only ask that you please review! The reviews honestly do help me write and upload in the knowledge that this fic is being enjoyed! Thank you!**

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**Notes:**

**A/N:** Hello again ^^! Thanks for the reviews! They've inspired me with my writing lately. This is another really long chapter. I didn't edit anything out this time though, it hurts to take things out. I made one major mistake. Yugi's birthday is in June and I do realize this, but at the time of writing, I didn't. I know. I'm stupid, what did you expect? So forgive me for that major, major error. Other than that, enjoy the fic!

**Guest: **I am so thrilled you are enjoying it thus far! Hmm, puzzleshipping? Hard to say, and I don't really want to give anything away.

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 7: The Party  
**

**xxxxxx**

_One week later:_

"Hey, Yuug, can you come over to Anzu's place? We're having the party there."

Yugi walked around the lounge, phone to his ear. It wasn't that late: the grandfather clock had just dinged six times and the evening sky was a stain of blood floating above the setting sun. "Really?"

"Yeah! Plus you didn't tell me what the doctor said about Yami. Oh, and that reminds me - bring Yami with you."

"Good, because I'm not going anywhere without him, Jonouchi. Except for well... going to college."

Yami looked up from where he was sitting. He himself was already playing a game: Gran Turismo 6. It was a simple game to keep his mind occupied while he took it easy. And he thoroughly enjoyed it.

As Yugi spoke on the phone he cleared up some of the clutter that had begun to accumulate such as drink Styrofoam cups, crisp packets and magazines.

"Come on, Yuug! It's your twenty first!"

Yugi paused. Grampa shrugged his shoulders at him as soon as his youngest grandson gave him a glance as if the old man knew exactly what he and his friend were talking about. "All right," he said with a smile, "When do I come over?"

"Like, now!"

"Okay." Yugi hung up and slipped his mobile into his back pocket. "Yami, it looks like we're going over to Anzu's."

"Outside?" He looked to his protégé, dropping the PS3 controller.

"No, not outside – _outside_. We'll be getting into a taxi and then straight into Anzu's home. You've been trapped in a puzzle for three thousand years. There is no way I am letting you go outside quite so soon, mou hitori no boku."

"Daiyoubu."

Yugi bit his lip. Was taking Yami out of his normal environment a good idea? His counterpart, though self-assured (sometimes) and regal, still had the disposition of a child even though he had the body of an adult. And since he was _still _in a stage of confusion and uncertainty he was renowned for making mistakes. And then there was_ going_ outside. Inside the house it was relatively okay for him and reflected his life of darkness and mazes: there were windows and doors, doors and windows, hence what Yami was used to. But outside, there were no doors or windows. Was it possible that Yugi was just being overprotective and Yami would be fine?

Should he trust him a little more? Then Yugi noticed his wounded hand that had only just been unwrapped as of yesterday after days and days of treating the deep cut with germolene antiseptic cream and re-bandaging it thoroughly so that any chance of infection was nil. And Yami, bless his heart, was the least cooperate of patients he had _ever_ known.

"What did Joey want anyway, apart from us going over to Anzu's?" The pharaoh asked.

"It's for my birthday party, mou hitori no boku!"

Yami did a funny little blanch as if to say,_ 'Holy Ra, what?'_

Solomon wagged his finger at his youngest. "I know what you youngsters get up to," he said, "but since it's your birthday, Yugi, I won't stop you having a bit of fun. However, I want you both home, safe and sound by at least ten thirty."

"Grampa!" Yugi whined. That was far too early.

"And remember, Yami*cough*Atem is allowed no alcohol. At all. Take what you need for cab fare, but I want you to stay at Anzu's. No frolicking to other clubs either, am I understood? Your friends may be amicable in nature, but what are they like after a couple of drinks, hmm? Hmm?"

"Jesus, Grampa, alright, I know!" He chuckled.

Yugi took his counterpart up to their bedroom and began diving into the closest and cupboard drawers for clothes. With a patient sight, Yami sat on the bed. Whenever Yugi was to go out – out, or go to a party, it took him _forever_ to pick out the right clothing. He definitely had a lot of hormones in him that were feminine.

"It might be cold out, so we'll wear jackets. What colour do you want to wear, Yami?"

The pharaoh shrugged, wondering if this incoming party would be possible perdition or if it could be fun. "Black - I guess."

"Alrighty, black."

"Hey, Aibou?"

"Yeah?" Yugi said without really paying attention or even looking at him. He was pulling jeans, cords, shirts and sleeved tops, leaving them scattered all around him and looking as if he had just strewn a monster's guts out.

"What's it like? Outside?"

Yugi paused for a moment in thought. He was so used to experiencing something ordinary that he actually didn't know how to describe it. "Well, the weather can change."

"Weather?"

"Yeah. It can be hot or cold, and it can be windy or rainy. And the snow is rather beautiful."

"When can I experience all this for myself?"

"Soon, Yami. Soon. But when we get into the taxi I don't want you to get too excited and you mustn't go anywhere without me."

Yami wasn't really listening. He was looking over at the window at the darkening sky and the tops of the trees as their spindly-winter branches swayed from something invisible that was pushing them left and right. Then his eyes strayed to the pillow where he had hidden Mai's phone number. He hadn't touched it since he had disposed of it there. What did she want him to do with it?

_Humans are complicated._ He gathered.

Yugi dug back into his clothing and brought over a pair of black jeans, a black jacket and a blue sleeved top. "Wear these." He told him. "I have a pair of blue sneakers for you too downstairs. If they fitted me, they should fit you. I think Grampa said you were a size five."

Yami dutifully undressed from his comfy-casual wear and into the clothes Yugi had laid out for him. Yugi threw him a fedora. Once Yami had put it all on and stood, admiring himself in the mirror, Yugi could not staring at him. He was so devilishly sexy. As soon as he was going to walk into that party, his friends would launch into him as if he was a celebrity.

Stripping himself down to his vest and underwear, Yugi put on purple jeans, a black sleeveless top and his old blue college coat because it looked so damn fine on him, even if Joey would take the piss out of it.

"We look so naked without the millennium puzzle around our necks." Yami confessed as he turned away from the mirror.

"Yes, we do a bit. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find something else to wear!" Yugi winked at this.

xxx

The taxi was beeping at the game shop impatiently and the grey skies were just delivering a torrent of lazy, cold rain just as Yugi and Yami stepped out onto the pavement. Grampa was waving at them. "Have a good time, boys! Remember, nine-thirty, no later! And keep an eye on Yami! I want you both back in one piece!"

"Yes, Grampa!" Yugi opened the back door of the taxi for Yami, but he had stopped stock-still as soon as he had come out of the shop, and he was looking around like someone who had just woken up. His amethyst eyes looked like the colour of wine from the reddish hue of the taxi car's beams up front, and his mouth was slightly open.

"Yami!" Yugi took his limp hand and guided him over to the car. Yami followed on wooden legs, and still he stared at everything around him. Yugi had to physically bend him down and into the back seat of the car and then promptly shut the door after him. Then he quickly went round and got in the other side. Solomon stood on the welcome mat, holding out his hand as he waved goodbye while the taxi reversed and pulled out.

"Got everything?" Yugi said, knowing that it was useless to ask now, but anything to try and distract him from the window. He was very frightened that Yami would just open the door and fly out. For ample measure, Yugi did up his seatbelt and tried to push him back into his seat. Yami was gawking at everything that flashed by; be it trees, dustbins, people walking along the sidewalk, or road signs illuminated by streetlights. He was like a dog straining at the leash to get out. Even his breathing was loud and noisy from the stress and excitement. _I should have put a blindfold over him until we got to Anzu's. _Yugi thought.

The ride wasn't long. The taxi stopped right by Anzu's, and Yugi paid him the fare. Then he got out first, whipped around and opened Yami's door. He freed him from his seatbelt and guided him out, stuffing the fedora onto his head. "This way, Yami. We're going to go back inside."

"But... but..."

He led him onwards; one hand around his shoulder in the extreme case Yami broke away and tried to make a run for it. Joey opened the door and gestured them inside. He was chewing the butt of a cigarette. "Took your time, boys. Yami looks stoned already."

"Yeah, on life. Tell Anzu to lock all the doors and windows, I don't want Yami to break out and get lost."

"Oh, yeah, I got it." Joey closed the front door behind them and turned the keys so that it was locked. "You guys go on into the kitchen. So you want vodka? Spirits? Wines? J&B?"

Everyone was in the kitchen with the music playing loudly from the CD player sitting on the island beside a bowl of salted crisps and another bowl of peanuts. Anzu was dressed in a skimpy leopard top and black skirt. Mai was in purple leather, including a leather bodice, a mini skirt and black tall boots. Serenity was in a glittery pink dress that went nicely with her pink shoes. Otogi was there too, drinking beside Honda on the couch next door. Seto was there too – surprisingly. He was looking on in his moody kind of way, but his face did seem to brighten remarkably when the Yugi's came in.

"Can I go back outside?" Yami was asking as Yugi pushed him forwards from behind.

"No!"

Mai, Anzu, Otogi, Honda and Serenity all flooded over. "Happy Birthday Yugi!" They cried almost in unison.

"Thanks!" Yugi said, going slightly red in the face. "It's great to see you all here!"

Joey put a drink in Yugi's hand. "What? Don't give me that look! It's only J&B on the rocks! What shall I give your friend?"

"Lemonade, please." Then he whispered to Joey, "Hey, what's Seto Kaiba doing here?"

"He heard the news and came down here from America." Joey shrugged. "This time it wasn't me he heard it from, okay?"

Yami was pushed to the centre of the kitchen as if he was a presentable wedding cake. Then all the girls gawked and touched him all over again. "You look so cute in that fedora, Yami!" Mai was saying.

Anzu shoved a glass of lemonade in his hand. "You wanna sit down with me?"

Seto Kaiba came forwards and pushed anyone who was in his way to one side. "So, Yami, here you stand. I've heard a lot about you. In fact, it's all I've been hearing." His lank, cold fingers held Yami's chin for a moment as if examining his skull for faults before he drew back. "I hope you are still as good at duel monsters as you were before. It's good to finally see you face to face."

"Kaiba!" Mai admonished, "Life isn't always about duel monsters! Sure, it's fun, and it's made my life better, but it's Yugi's birthday and it _is_ Yami's first time out of the house! Cut him some slack!"

Kaiba's frosty blue eyes never lifted a millimetre from Yami's. "Do you have your duel monster's deck?"

Yami moved it from his pocket and held it out. Mai stepped in-between them. "Let's stop it, okay? If you two behave and if Yugi approves, sure, you two nut jobs can duel each other's brains out... but later!"

Kaiba's grin drew up slowly on his face like a predator's promise. "Sure. We can do that."

Yami stuffed his deck into his back pocket.

"So, how did you two do it?" Kaiba asked, nursing the rum and coke he had on his left hand. It was pretty obvious that Kaiba had come to view Yami as if he was some kind of exotic painting than to attend something so ordinary as 'Yugi's birthday.'

"Do what?" Yami asked.

"Separate? I don't believe it for one moment. What a load of hocus pocus! But I wanna hear _your _explanation!" He looked the pharaoh up and down a few times as if sure the pharaoh was some kind of apparition and that he'd fade away from sight at any chosen moment. He took a long sip of his drink.

"With every ounce of my power. It's all gone now – my power. I suspect I used it all up and thus I nearly died coming into this world. But it was worth it."

"Ha! Really? Got bored of that infernal puzzle then?" He downed his drink. "Well, at least I can finally duel _you_, and not the half-breed child you used as a vessel."

Despite the height difference, Yami made short work of grabbing Kaiba's expensive tuxedo collar and bringing his face down to his level. "You _ever_ mock my partner again and I will make you regret it!"

Kaiba pushed him off and readjusted his collar. "How will you make me regret it? Duel me, I dare you, and I will show you no mercy. I don't even know why I'm in this dump of a house to be with you commoners, but I had to see if the rumours were true. And here you are, alive and just as fiery! We will see who gets who!" He turned away and headed back to the selection of drinks; eyeing Yami wearily like a fisherman would a shark.

Yami was in no mood to waste time with Kaiba – Kaiba, who had come to view him as if he was some rare zoo animal. He went over to get some food.

Yugi was having fun with Anzu and Serenity across the other side of the kitchen. He was talking, blushing some, and telling a few jokes. Anzu was pouring him a drink. Yami looked on, a little repulsed that _his _Aibou was getting attention without his consent, but then he buckled down. It was after all his birthday, and yet Yami could not help but feel the spears of loneliness calling. One day soon, his partner: cherished though he was, would not stay a boyish young adult forever. He would find someone, love them, and start a family with them. Yami was sure they'd always be a place for him beside his partner, but he wasn't sure he was prepared for Yugi courting another, and then there was the strong possibility of _babies..._

Joey handed Yami his second lemonade of the evening and awkwardly put a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. The pharaoh backed away a little, confused. "Sorry, pal," Joey said, uneasy about Yami's reaction, "I just wanna ask how ya been feeling?"

"All right, actually. I think I am over the worst to be sure. I hope so anyway."

"Good, good." They chinked glasses together in an unspoken toast, but Joey didn't like the way Yami seemed to step away from him, as if mistrustful of his best duelling partner. It just didn't fit and Joey was troubled over it.

Meanwhile, Yugi was being given his presents. Anzu wheeled them over on a trolley and the presents were in many colours and were beautifully wrapped. "That one's mine." Joey said, pointing to a sorry looking cardboard box. "From Amazon. Couldn't be hashed to wrap it."

"Ooh. I should have got him something." Yami muttered suddenly, his expression turning grey from guilt.

Joey took his shoulder and turned him so that they were looking at one another. "Don't you understand? You are his _greatest_ gift! He'd trade you for all the presents in the world! You moron!" He lightly hit Yami on the back of the head. Yami grinned foolishly, his guilt evaporating. Then it was Joey's turn to become a little sheepish. "Hey, look, I know this is Yugi's night en' all, but I kinda... bought somethin' for ya."

Yami looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Joey?"

"Well, I always thought you looked kinda odd without a millennium what's-a-hoosit around yor neck, so I thought... maybe you could wear somethin' new, to go with your new... self!"

"Joey, Yugi warned me about alcohol. Have you been drinking too much of it? Or... too little?"

Joey shook his head, "No, no!" His right hand went into his jean pocket and pulled out something bright and red. Then he held the necklace up between both hands before the on looking pharaoh. It was a round, bright red pendant that flashed iridescent colours in the room lights. It was... beautiful.

Without thinking, Yami stepped forwards and cupped his hands so that Joey could lower it into his palms, gold chain and all. "Joey, it's... it's amazing. Really."

Joey shrugged, trying to act as if Yami's gesture of appreciation didn't mean much before taking another hearty swig of his bottle of J&B. "It's okay. I saw it at the Jewellery Store off Baken Road, and I thought of you. It wasn't much, honest."

Yami smiled. "Thank you, Joey." He lifted the gold necklace and put it around his neck. The blood red circle rested on his breastbone. He caught his reflection in the little mirror on the fridge. It looked just right on him. It really did; shining there. Yami doubted Joey's insistence on 'it wasn't much.' The chain was real gold. All Egyptians had a knack for telling real gold from fakes, and this was no fake.

Joey hugged him roughly from behind. "There! Now you don't look quite so... naked!"

Yami turned to him, smiling. No longer did he seem cagey and guarded. "Thank you. You always were my greatest friend. Even while I was in Yugi's body, and I was never really in his world, you were always the one I could depend on, and trust."

"So let's party!" Joey said, turning to the CD player and turning the music up. The song was from some kind of Rock 'En Roll band. Then he thrust a bottle of beer into Yami's hands. "Egyptians drink beer, don't they? Then drink, drink! And we'll watch Yugi open his presents!"

"Ah yes, of course!"

They all went over to the kitchen where all the presents were stacked on the table beside a long table that contained the buffet food. On the plates there was chicken drumsticks, little pork sausages on sticks, bits of cheese, slices of apples, bowls of crisps, sausage rolls and in the middle was a huge cake that read in icing: Happy Birthday! Around the top were twenty one candles.

Yami stood with the crowd, drinking his beer, his other hand cradling the pendant in one hand. Everyone was cheering for Yugi as he took the very first present from the table. It was done up in pretty pink wrapping paper, with a huge, great violet bow donning the top. It was from Mai.

Anzu stood with an irked look on her face, no doubt hating the silken wrapping already.

Yami grinned mischievously.

His little heart suddenly hammered badly in fear when he felt someone's hand grab his shoulder. It was Kaiba. His stone cold eyes looked down at him warily. "I will duel you after this." He said. "I want to see how good you really are without Yugi to help. Should be interesting."

Yami nodded, and swung his attention back to his partner opening presents while trying not to concentrate on the pain in his chest that Kaiba had started.

Yugi unwrapped the gift. It was a brand new Sony radio that also played CDs, and could dock most devices.

"Thanks, Mai!" He said, truly appreciating his gift. Now he could throw his old radio out.

"No problem!" She said, smiling brightly. "Glad you like it!"

The next present was a new ZedGear laptop. Yugi was stunned. So stunned, that at first, he just stared at it. The gift was from both Honda and Joey.

"Guys! I can't accept this!" He said, bewildered. Joey hugged him tight and messed his hair with a playful fist. Honda was honking with drunken laughter.

"I couldn't skimp out on my bestest buddy!" Joey said happily. He thrust up a bottle of beer above him. "Happy birthday, Yuug!"

Everyone cheered with him, raising their glasses or bottles.

The rest of the evening passed pretty well, and with all the gifts open, and the cake cut and shared out, the guys and gals were chatting, dancing to music or just drinking. Yami still felt a little bit guilty despite what Joey had told him. He hadn't had time to get his Aibou anything, what with being stuck inside the house and all.

Kaiba thrust the table before him and laid down his playing mat. "Let's duel." He said. Mokuba came over with a drink of orange juice in his hands. Yami hadn't noticed him before, but then, he was having trouble keeping a record of everybody here.

"Seto," the young boy said, "do you want more crisps before they run out?"

"Shut up, Mokuba. Now, Yugi..."

"Yami." He corrected him.

"Whatever. Get out your deck and let's shuffle. We'll play by 4000 life points. We're in no hurry, after all."

Yami brought out his deck and began to shuffle.

"This is gonna be so cool! I wish I had brought my camera!" Mokuba cried.

"Shut up, Mokuba." Seto set his shuffled deck on his place mat and folded his arms, his blue eyes watching Yami's every movement. "So, what do you like most about being alive, Yugi? ...Yami!"

"Being with my Aibou, and touching him, I guess."

"Well, whatever you do, don't go all gay. The Egyptians were very homosexual, did you know that?"

Yami shook his head, not believing him for one second. If anything Egyptians looked down on homosexuality, at least the royals did anyway. "I did not know that." He placed his deck on his side of the table. "So Kaiba, what are the stakes?"

"If I win, I get to spend a day with you."

This shook Yami up completely. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're fascinating. I've been waiting to see who you really are for – what's it been now – three years? Then we can duel at my place."

"You're obsessed with me, Kaiba."

He shrugged. "What are you going to do about it? And if you win?"

Yami gave one of his golden bangs a twirl with his index finger. "You... give Yugi a new house. A palace!"

Kaiba blanched. "That's a tall order!" He said. "My term was fair! Yours is preposterous!"

Yami leant back and laughed. It was creamy, smooth laughter that made many of Yugi's friends pause and look over at him in inquisitively. "Afraid you can't afford it, Kaiba?"

Mokuba sipped his juice and said, "You know, Seto, it's not like you_ can't_ afford it..."

"Shut up, Mokuba." Seto pressed his fingers together, thinking. "How about I agree to give Yugi a bigger house? A mansion, say? Wouldn't that be agreeable to you?"

Though Yami had no idea what a 'mansion' was, it sounded good. "That's fine with me, Kaiba." He raised his right hand to shake on it. Seto replied in kind, and they shook on it.

_He's as confident as I remember him._ The billionaire thought. "I'll go first." Kaiba said, at once drawing five cards.

Yami rolled his eyes. Wasn't anyone going to flip a coin one day and call it to see whoever went first?

"I play Rude Kaiser, in attack mode, and I place two cards face down. End my turn."

Yami drew six cards and looked at his hand. It wasn't a bad first draw. He had Mirror Force, Koumori dragon, Celtic Guardian, Mage Power, De-Spell and Trap Hole.

"I place four cards face down," he said, placing _all_ of his magic and trap cards on the placemat, "and then I play one card face down in defence mode. I end my turn."

"A bit risky, isn't it, playing nearly all of your entire hand in your first turn?" Kaiba crowed mockingly, his legs crossed.

"He might have something up his sleeve, brother." Came Mokuba's shy advice.

"Shut up, Mokuba."

Yami smiled his crooked, daredevil smile. "Come at me, Kaiba."

"Oh, I will, don't you worry." He drew a card. He gave a chief smile. "I don't know what you're planning, Yugi – ugh, Yami! But I know how to be prepared. I play one card face down in defence position, and I attack with Rude Kaiser."

Yami lifted his defence monster up but strangely he activated none of his four face-down trap or magic cards, which threw Kaiba off a little. The defence monster was the Celtic Guardian. Yami picked it up and placed it reverently in the graveyard section.

Joey threw his arms around Yami's slender neck. "Hello guys!"

"Excuse me; can't you see we're duelling here?" Kaiba said, affronted, his lips forming into his all-too-familiar snarl.

"Fuck you, Kaiba." Joey said, sticking the middle finger in his direction. "I can barge in whenever I want!"

Yami drew a card and placed another card in his magic/trap slot. "I summon Koumori dragon, in attack mode!"

"That poor beast has 1500 attack points!" Kaiba smiled tenderly, brushing a finger against his lips. "How sweet! Yami, I think you've lost your game. Without Yugi, you obviously don't have it in you."

"Oh really, Kaiba?" His egotistical smirk shone out again; the one Kaiba at times dreaded seeing when their duel was on a knife edge. "I activate Mage Power! I equip it to my Koumori dragon, and since I have 5 cards on the magic and trap card section, I can increase his attack to 4000 attack points!"

Kaiba's eyes widened. "What?"

"And I attack!"

Kaiba lost his sudden surprise almost as fast as it appeared. "Oh no, no, no!" He flipped up one of his two magic/trap cards. It was Negate attack. "Sorry to disappoint!"

Yami sat there, looking a little bemused. "I end my turn."

"Do you? Good." Kaiba drew a card and grinned wolfishly at his hand. "I sacrifice my Rude Kaiser and my other defence monster Blackwing Damascus to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Sorry." Yami flipped his Trap Hole. "Though my Koumori dragon will lose 500 attack points, it will be well worth it."

Kaiba looked like he was about to throttle someone. He placed his precious Blue Eyes into the graveyard. "Fine." He said sulkily, and he placed one card face down in the magic/trap area. "Attack me, if you dare."

Yami drew a card. It wasn't like Kaiba to bluff. He normally had something to swing the game in his favour.

Yami placed the card that he had just drawn onto the field in face down position. It was Monster Reborn. Koumori dragon's attack went back up to 4000.

"I attack!" Yami cried.

Kaiba grinned, flipping up his card. "You may not have heard of it. It's called Blackwing. It activates only when an opponent's monster with more than 2000 attack points declares an attack. If I remove one 'Blackwing' from my graveyard I can negate the attack."

"Oh, right." Yami said, chewing his lip.

"Do you end you turn?"

"Yes."

Kaiba flipped his last trap card on the field. "This is Annihilating Light. During the End Phase of this turn, it destroys all monsters on the field. Say goodbye to that dragon of yours. Now it's my turn." He drew a card and placed Azure Dragon Summoner in attack position. "I attack!"

"Oh shit, Yami, you just lost 1500 life points." Joey regarded when the former pharaoh did nothing to prevent this, he just jotted down the loss on one of Kaiba Corp's calculator's that Mokuba helpfully handed to him.

"Yes, yes." He said, knowing that he could have prevented it with Mirror Force. Then he drew another card. It was Swords of Revealing Light.

He flipped Monster Reborn in readiness to re-summon his Koumori dragon.

Kaiba went into gales of laughter as soon as he saw what he had done. "Keep up, old timer!" He chuckled, "That card is banned!"

"Hey, lay off him, Kaiba!" Joey yelled back at him, "You used Rude Kaiser!"

"Pegasus remade him, and gave him four stars instead of five. It's legal. 'Sides, Yami can't use Monster Reborn and we're not playing Battle City rules. Sorry."

Yami winced a little. "Can't I discard it and draw another card then, in its place?"

Kaiba shook his head, enjoying Yami's embarrassment. "You really are naive, aren't you? I thought you were the King of Games! Now you can't tell what's legal and what's not!"

"He can't help it if you, or Pegasus or whoever keeps changing tournament and causal playing rules!" Joey growled. "Yami's got a lot o' catching up to do, and all you care about is duelling! Duelling, duelling, duelling! You need ta see a psychotherapist!"

"_You_ need to go to dog training college, so that you learn how to behave!" Kaiba snapped back.

"Me? Oh no, Kaiba, you're the one who likes standing off the edge of tall buildings to get what he wants!"

Their bickering was rising above even the music. Yami took his deck and slunk off his chair and went somewhere else – away from the violence that was escalating.

"Boys? Boys!" Mai yelled at them, coming over with a glass of wine in one hand. "What the hell are you two doing, arguing at Yugi's birthday party? Shame on you!"

Kaiba snorted at her. "Who do you think you are, the referee?"

"You little bastard!" She said, and she dumped the wine all down his face.

That caused another riot.

"Hey, hey!" This coming from Honda, who was half drunk as it was. "No fightin', you guys!"

"I've had it with your incompetence!" Kaiba yelled.

Yugi looked on, visibly anxious. Serenity didn't look all too pleased.

Honda broke in-between Joey and Kaiba before they could lock into an all-all fist fight like a couple of testosterone-fuelled stags. "Jesus, you two! Quit it!"

"Anyone want anymore cake?" Yugi asked, but no one noticed him, everyone seemed to be watching Joey and Kaiba's on-going feud. He got up from the sofa and headed for the buffet table. The next thing he knew, he could hear Anzu shouting over the racket about wine being spilled on her carpet. As if things couldn't get any worse.

Yugi grabbed his second slice of cake but remained alone at the table to eat it. His soft eyes wondered over to Yami. He was sitting quietly on the sofa, watching the quarrels from afar. He was much too weak to defend Joey or even participate though it looked like he wanted to. His eyes were rapt on Kaiba and Joey as they tried to rip each other apart even as two women stood between them. And he was getting tired. It was well past his bedtime – Yami usually took naps during the day to simply keep up with day to day living, and now it was almost half nine at night. No wonder he looked a little wilted and weary. As for Yugi, he was increasingly worried about college. He was due back tomorrow, and that meant leaving his counterpart for a whole day, five days a week. He didn't like it. He wanted to experience everything with Yami, not just abandon him. But there really was no way around it, and Grampa was much too old and busy with business to babysit all the time. He supposed the only option was to hire a real babysitter, and pay them to look after the former pharaoh. Yami wouldn't like it, but so far it was the only solution Yugi could come up with. And a week had past. It was time to call for another appointment with the doctor. Yami was _really_ going to love him.

He noticed the red pendant hanging from Yami's neck; it shone out blood red, and caught the light of the room in shivery sparkles. Then the noise levels from Joey's end escalated, and Yugi had to look to see what was going on. Kaiba was being guided, or dragged rather to the door by Honda and Mai. Mokuba was following.

"Yeah, you go sulk in your sleazy Kaiba fortress of yours!" Joey was shouting, and throwing a fist into the air.

"I'm not finished with you, you mutt!" Kaiba shouted back. Mai had to shove him through the front door to keep him moving.

"Or what? You'll duel me? Oh puh-lease! Go find someone else to play games with!" Joey threw a beer bottle at the door which almost hit Mai's head.

Yugi shook his head in disgrace and then took another mouthful of cake.

Yami looked concerned as the fight was getting thicker, both physically and emotionally.

Joey was trying to cram Kaiba through the front door. Kaiba stumbled outside into the inchoate night with Mokuba beside him. "Don't you dare touch me again with your unclean hands!" The billionaire raged. "Or I'll file a law suit against you!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Joey slammed the door in his face and turned round. "Jesus Christ, I _can't_ stand that man! Who the fuck invited him?"

"I did." Anzu admitted sheepishly. "He kinda offered to pay for the food if I allowed him entry. It's just as well he came Joey. All he really wanted was to see Yami, otherwise he'd never rest."

"Yeah, well..." He returned bitterly, failing to be impressed.

Yami strayed over to the window at the back of the room with a sour look on his face as if the fight had unsettled him. Yugi watched his stiff progress with tenuous curiosity. Then he saw his other half stagger once, one hand flinging awkwardly in the air for something to grasp. Yugi put his cake down and started towards him. His intuition was correct, but his timing was late. The pharaoh suddenly fell, and as he did so he grabbed madly at the curtains, pulling them down with him.

Everyone was hushed as they heard the thump as Yami connected with the floor. Then they were running over to him. Yugi tried to clear the area to give his charge a little more room, but all his friends wanted to see what had happened.

"Gomen nasi." Yami muttered, trying to find his way to his feet again.

Joey hauled him up and half carried him to the sofa. "You okay?" He asked. Everyone else was asking the same thing.

"Yes." Yami confirmed with a wink once he had sat down. "I just... fell down. My legs hurt."

His truthful appeal made Yugi ache. Why hadn't he said anything?

It was clear why his legs hurt. Yami was not used to such activity, and he had been quite active all day, and this party was wearing him out fast. His body was too tired. He could have just curled up on the sofa and slept, but he didn't want the others to worry, and he probably felt it rude to just fall into a doze.

"We'll take you home, mou hitori no boku!" Yugi exclaimed a little too shrilly.

"No, no need for that. It was my fault. I shouldn't have got up to see if I could ease the hurt away. Please continue the fun!" He gave another wink. But his pallor and hooded eyes gave it clean away how worn-out he was.

"I'll take him home." Joey offered. "You carry on having fun, Yuug. Then once he's sorted, I'll come back."

Yugi went to argue. He didn't know what Yami needed before bedtime, but Joey saw through his anguish.

"It's okay. I'll look after him."

Yugi groaned. "All right. Thanks Jonouchi." But it was obvious how guilty and desperate he looked. Tearing Yami from him was like thrusting him away from every comfort in the world.

Joey picked the pharaoh up like a doll and bore him to the door. Yami waved at them from over Joey's shoulder.

Once in the car and buckled up, he was asleep.


End file.
